Sea Kings survive in five

SANTA BARBARA ? After squandering a two-game lead on the road, it took four match points for the Corona del Mar High boys’ volleyball team to remember who the defending champions were.

The Sea Kings outlasted Santa Barbara in five games, 25-21, 25-23, 12-25, 10-25, 18-16, in a CIF Southern Section Division II semifinal Wednesday night. Corona del Mar advanced to the Division II championship match Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Cypress College.

“We pulled out a miracle tonight, I think,” Sea Kings Coach Steve Conti said.

After the Sea Kings went up, 2-0, the Dons rallied behind their raucous home crowd in games three and four.

“We were making a lot of unforced errors, and they were playing flawless,” Conti said. “I think we let the pressure get to us a little bit. That gym is dark, like a dungeon.”

Santa Barbara took leads of 9-3, 12-7 and 14-10 in the decisive fifth game, just one point away from the win. But Corona del Mar, led by senior Scott Slaughter’s team highs of 17 kills and six blocks, refused to fold.

Middle blocker Gus Ellis had 11 kills and four blocks, outside hitter Adam Smith also had 11 kills and setter Phil Bannan tallied 49 assists.

Corona del Mar, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 1 seed Valencia, which beat Tesoro in the other semifinal.

The Sea Kings beat Valencia in the Division II championship match last year, but the Vikings topped Corona del Mar in the semifinals in 2004.dpt-cdmvolley25.IMGGraphicInfoPB1RADL920060525PB1RADL9No Caption