Sea Kings punish Trojans

Steve Virgen

They’ve gone from stumbling and bumbling to rumbling and crumbling.

The Corona del Mar Sea Kings, who had the look of underachievers

before Pacific Coast League boys volleyball play began, displayed

their capabilities in a three-game win over host University Tuesday.

CdM Coach Steve Conti said the Sea Kings played a complete match

and also possessed solid ball control, which meant the Sea Kings

didn’t commit that many errors and they also executed their offense.

CdM seemed to put it all together in its 15-5, 15-2, 15-8 win over

the Trojans, who were dealt their first PCL loss.

“It seems like everyone is playing with more confidence,” Conti

said of his Sea Kings (8-8, 3-0 in league). “The thing that impressed

me the most was our ball control. If we take care of the ball, it’s

amazing the things this team can do.”

CdM opened Game 1 with a 6-0 lead, and Game 2 with a 7-0

advantage. The Sea Kings were in sync during both games and featured

an effective combination of seniors Greg Gabriel, CdM’s setter, and

Eric Jones, the 6-foot-6 middle blocker. Jones (match-high 14 kills)

tallied four kills in the first game and five more in the second

game, while also collecting a service ace in each game. Gabriel, who

finished with 29 assists, recorded 15 assists in the first two games.

“We have a lot more confidence in ourselves,” said Gabriel, one of

eight seniors on the CdM squad. “We’re just playing with a lot more

poise. We weren’t as confident in the beginning of the season. We

were losing the close games. But now we’re getting after it right off

the bat.”

Gabriel also said the Sea Kings have relied on their chemistry.

Four of the six starters are seniors (Gabriel, Jones, Bart Welch and

Miles Yourman), and the other two starters are certainly capable of

playing as a team. They’re twin brothers, sophomores Tom and Kevin

Welch. Tom Welch contributed four kills and Kevin Welch had three

kills in the first game, when CdM established its dominance.

The Sea Kings also appeared as if they have depth. That was

evident from senior Brandon Sherick-Odom, who came up with six kills

in the third-game victory.

“This is only his second game,” Conti said of Sherick-Odom, who

tore ligaments in his knee during the basketball season. “He’s just

going to get better.”

Conti also noted Sherick-Odom, Tom Welch and Jones hit the ball

with much power Tuesday. Jones’ hitting was rather intense. On one of

his kills, Jones hammered the ball so hard at University’s Michael

Lee, Lee tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders as if to say,

what can you do, as CdM went up 12-2 in Game 2.

University (5-6, 2-1), which was missing one of its starters,

never gained any type of momentum. Out of the seven points the

Trojans scored in the first two games, six came because of Sea King

errors.

“They would have beaten us even if we had [Matt Miede],”

University Coach Jo Ann Byars. “CdM is real consistent. They keep the

ball in play, no matter what’s going on. You can tell they have

played volleyball together for quite awhile. They have a great setter

who just knows what to do with the ball. They were definitely

focused.”

The Trojans made Game 3 a bit more competitive than the previous

two. They came within 8-7, but CdM outscored University, 7-1, to

close out the match. Bart Welch served for the final four points, and

Yourman collected a kill to end the match.

“There’s still room for us to get better, but we’re not making the

unforced errors we were making earlier in the season,” Conti said.

“We were making errors at the wrong time. But now we’re taking care

of the ball better. But there’s still work to be done.”

The Corona del Mar junior varsity team also defeated University in

sweeping fashion, 15-7, 13-15, 16-14.

The Sea Kings, led by sophomores Andrew Boyd and Ben Applebee,

rallied from a 14-7 deficit to win the decisive third game, in the

best-of-three format.