Corona del Mar gets past Laguna Beach again, reaches CIF boys’ volleyball semifinals

Coach Steve Conti called it the “Corona del Mar High cruise.” His boys’ volleyball thought it could cruise after it dominated the opening set in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

That was far from the case on Saturday.

Playing a rival like Laguna Beach for the second time this year, Conti knew CdM could ill-afford to take the Breakers lightly.

The night started well for CdM, and then in between, it allowed the Breakers to get back in the match. What should have been a sweep turned into a five-set battle.

Laguna Beach was on the verge of upsetting No. 3-seeded CdM.

The Sea Kings survived at home, moving on to the semifinals for the fourth straight year in the top division, defeating Laguna Beach 25-13, 21-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12.

“I think we kind of fell asleep a little bit,” Conti said. “Our team needs to be a little bit more mature, and know just because you beat a team in one set badly doesn’t mean anything. We should know that because the same thing happened to us at Loyola this year.”

The trip to Los Angeles Loyola 2½ weeks ago was the last time CdM went the distance in a match. The Sea Kings lost that evening, but they made sure to keep their season alive on Saturday.

The Sea Kings played in their third five-set match of the year, winning for the second time.

The Sea Kings (29-3) get to play host to No. 2 Oak Park (36-3) in the semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Oak Park advanced by beating Huntington Beach 25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21 in the quarterfinals at home on Saturday.

“It’s nice finally getting a home [match] in the semis,” Conti said. “The last three years we’ve been in the [Division 1] semis we’ve been on the road.”

The road the Sea Kings want to reach again is the section finals. They have lost in the past two years. They have another shot because of Game 5.

While the fifth set began with a service error by CdM, the host school turned it around. Diego Perez served strong, producing back-to-back aces to put CdM up 6-2. The Breakers (20-5) answered, getting within one late.

Laguna Beach’s Sam Burgi and Barry Greenough combined to block a shot, and a CdM violation cut the Sea Kings’ lead to 13-12. The next two points belonged to CdM, as Jake Meyer recorded one of his nine kills, and at match point, Mitch Haly and Clay Dickinson teamed up to block a shot.

Dickinson fell backward, as Haly and the rest of the Sea Kings celebrated. Dickinson tripped over Haly. He was just happy Laguna Beach didn’t trip up CdM.

The Sea Kings began the night scoring six of the first seven points. Dickinson, who finished with 12 kills, pounded a kill, as did Meyer and Brandon Browning (12 kills on 18 attempts, with no errors). Dickinson also blocked a shot, Haly and Kevin Kobrine teamed up on a block.

Game 1 saw CdM turn away the Breakers five times. Haly was involved three times, partnering with Patrick Paragas (37 assists) and Browning on the last two blocks.

Paragas and Dickinson each recorded a service ace in Game 1. Everyone seemed to contribute for the Sea Kings in the opening set.

The next set played out much differently.

Game 2 went back and forth, as it was even eight times. After Browning served strong, dropping a service ace to help put CdM ahead 13-11, Peter Obradovich turned it on.

Behind Obradovich’s serving, the Breakers created some distance, taking a 17-13 lead. The senior served six straight times, and Greenough produced a kill and a block.

Laguna Beach evened the match at 1-1, as Josh McManus and Obradovich each had three kills down the stretch. For the first time this year, the Breakers took a set from CdM.

The Breakers wanted to claim another one against the Sea Kings, and they did in the fourth set. They needed one more to stun and take down CdM in the postseason for the first time in 30 years. It didn’t happen.

“I’m not big on moral victories. I wanted to move on,” said Laguna Beach Coach Darren Utterback, whose team played much better against CdM than in its three-set loss at home on March 15.

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Twitter: @ByDCP