Home not so sweet for CdM

Bryce Alderton

The ceiling on Corona del Mar High’s gym could hardly stop visiting

Arcadia High boys volleyball hitters from racking up frequent flier

miles Friday night in a CIF Southern Section Division II

quarterfinal.

Seniors Brad Jenkins and Richard Wright commanded the net, each

tallying 14 kills for the seventh-seeded Apaches in a 15-12, 15-7,

15-8 victory over the second-seeded Sea Kings, who were a step slower

and lacked the swagger and confidence the co-champions of the Pacific

League displayed with six senior starters.

“Their seniors showed they did not want their season to end

[Friday night],” CdM Coach Steve Conti said.

CdM’s playoff run, which included a 15-5, 15-5, 15-2 second-round

conquest over visiting Arrowhead Christian after a first-round bye,

ends prematurely. The Sea Kings (19-12), champions of the Pacific

Coast League, will not make at least the semifinals for the first

time in six seasons.

“It is always hard to win the last match of the year and only so

few teams out of hundreds are able to do it,” Conti said. “We have a

bad taste in our mouths because we did not play to our potential and

display the great volleyball needed to advance to the semifinals.”

Arcadia’s size and athletic ability towered over CdM, which found

itself sluggish to clog the middle, where Wright, Jenkins & Co.

repeatedly found holes to slam kills from the outside.

“We knew what they were going to do, we just couldn’t stop them

most of the time,” CdM senior setter Greg Gabriel said.

Gabriel tallied 33 assists, trying as best he could along with

teammates to position themselves on defense.

“They are big, physical guys that run into the block each time,”

Gabriel said. “They just withered away at us and we couldn’t fight

back.”

Gabriel helped Stanford-bound senior middle blocker Eric Jones

notch a team-high 13 kills followed by five from senior captain Bart

Welch.

Five of Jones’ kills came in Game 1 as CdM built leads of 7-1 and

12-7 before Arcadia went on an 8-0 run to close out the game.

The Sea Kings committed six unforced errors in that span and

couldn’t break through the wall formed at the net by Arcadia,

specifically senior Alan Morris, who dug two balls and added a stuff

block in the aforementioned rally.

“We hit balls cross court and into their blocks,” Conti said.

“Usually, we want our guys to hit down the lines. They had two blocks

near the end of the first game and then the next few swings we got

tentative and doubt crept in. [Arcadia] played with a sense of

purpose and we made them bigger believers out of themselves.”

Arcadia’s comeback took the life out of the CdM crowd, which

filled all but one bleacher section on the home side, and instead

gave its following many moments to cheer.

“We came in here as underdogs and people thought they would kick

our butts,” said Wright, who stands 6-feet-4 and played wide receiver

on the football team. “In that first game, we decided to push, play

hard and never give up and we continued that the whole match.”

CdM never led in the second and third games, getting as close as

one point seven times in Game 2 and within two points twice in Game

3. Arcadia stretched a 5-3 lead in Game 3 to a 9-3 advantage on seven

unforced errors by the Sea Kings.

Conti experimented with different lineups throughout the match,

trying to find any semblance of consistency. Seniors Clay Stone,

Brian Brinkerhoff, and Brandon Sherick-Odom, along with sophomore

Austin Brawner, all saw time on the floor with junior Dominic Rubino,

Tom Welch, Kevin Welch and senior Miles Yourman.

Yourman and Kevin Welch each slammed four kills while Brinkerhoff

added three followed by two apiece from Sherick-Odom and Tom Welch.

Bart Welch helped keep rallies going with a team-leading 12 digs

along with nine apiece by Yourman and Kevin Welch. Kevin, Yourman and

Jones each tallied two solo stuff blocks.