Boys volleyball: South handles North in All-Star match

Tony Altobelli

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Finger, schminger.

For Corona del Mar High’s Kevin Hansen, a banged up ring finger was not

going to keep him away from one final match against his buddies at the

Dave Mohs Memorial All-Star Volleyball Match Friday night at Edison High,

the 24th postseason all-star match of the series.

Hansen made the most of his final prep action. The Stanford-bound setter

earned Most Valuable Player honors as his South squad defeated the North,

25-20, 25-23, 10-15.

“Actually, I’m very surprised about the award,” Hansen said following the

presentation. “We had some good chemistry out there, despite only

practicing one time together. It was kind of hard getting up for playing

against your buddies.”

Hansen’s teammate, USC-bound Greg Stampley had a logical explanation for

the team’s chemistry.

“A big chunk of our team plays together on the Balboa Bay Club team,” he

admitted. “It was a blast tonight. It’s the end of one chapter and the

beginning of another.”

On the North squad, Newport Harbor’s Billy Clayton and Kent Turner each

turned in solid efforts.

Clayton, heading for Stanford in the fall, had a team-high 10 kills in

the match. “There’s definitely no regrets,” Clayton said. “I had a very

successful season in football this year and we went as far as we could in

volleyball.”

Turner, headed to USC next year, walks away from his prep career

undecided on his athletic future.

“Hey, if it ended today, I had a blast,” Turner said. “I might try to

walk on at USC, but I’m just not sure yet. If I don’t, there’s always the

beach. It was an honor just to be a part of this match tonight.”