Boys volleyball: Sea Kings win tourney title

SANTA BARBARA - In the second installment of what could become a

four-part series, the Corona del Mar High boys volleyball team earned a

15-13, 15-9, 15-10 championship-match victory over Back Bay rival Newport

Harbor Saturday to win the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions at Santa

Barbara High.

It was the second win over Harbor for Coach Steve Conti’s squad, which

topped Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors, 15-5, 13-15, 15-10, 15-9, in a

nonleague match April 8.

The former Sea View League rivals, who also met for the CIF Southern

Section Division I title last spring (won by Harbor), will face one

another in this season’s Round 3 Friday at the Sailors’ gym. That match

will conclude the regular season for both teams, who are on pace to win

or share their respective league titles. They could meet in the Division

I playoffs, as well.

“Well treat (Friday’s rematch) like a playoff match,” said Glenn, who

believes his team made progress, despite not defending its Santa Barbara

title. “I think we made a move this weekend in terms of our seeding for

the playoffs. I thought we played our best match against (the Sea Kings),

but they’re just better than us right now.”

Conti was similarly pleased with the play of his Sea Kings, ranked No. 2

in CIF Division I, as well as Orange County.

“We got steady and consistent contributions from all 11 players and Greg

Stampley was just a man in the title match,” Conti said.

Stampley, a senior outside hitter, shared tournament MVP honors with

senior Stanford-bound setter Kevin Hansen. Stampley had 17 kills, 13 digs

and three ace serves against Harbor.

“He hit a ball in that match which made my jaw drop,” Conti said of

Stampley, whom he believes is being woefully overlooked by college

recruiters, because he’s only 6-foot-4.

“If any college coaches would have been there Saturday, he would have

shown them something,” Conti said.

Hansen had 51 assists, 10 digs, five kills and two aces and 6-6 junior

middle blocker Forrest Mack had one of his better matches for the

winners. Mack finished with a team-leading 19 kills and added four

blocks.

Brian Gallagher (seven kills), Alec Hanson (five) and Chris Shepardson

(five) were also key offensive weapons, while Conti credited junior Evan

Burden with strong defense.

Harbor was paced by senior all-tournament selections Billy Clayton and

Kent Turner. Clayton, a 6-5 Stanford-bound outside hitter, finished with

19 kills and Turner amassed 52 assists.

“We just made fewer mistakes than they did,” Conti said. “We were able to

dig some balls and get some momentum. There was a lot of offense going

on and it was just a matter of who was going to stop it.”

CdM defeated Santa Margarita, 15-10, 17-15, 15-11 in its semifinal, while

Harbor got past San Clemente, 4-15, 15-4, 15-4, 15-11, to reach the final.