CdM uses full cast to beat Huntington Beach, advance to CIF quarterfinals

In the first round, the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team learned that any opponent could be dangerous in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

The Sea Kings finished the year ranked sixth in the Division 1 poll, but they were pushed to five sets by Tesoro in the opener on Tuesday. CdM ultimately pulled through.

The reward was a clash of titans, as the Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings drew Sunset League champion Huntington Beach. The Oilers came in trying to build on a CIF State Southern California Regional Division I finals appearance last season.

CdM stopped the visiting Oilers in their tracks, putting up a solid wall of defense in a 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-10 victory on Thursday night.

“It means a lot, because last year, we didn’t make it past this point,” CdM sophomore outside hitter Maya Satchell said. “I think every single year, we want to win CIF, go for the gold, and get that ring. I think we have the potential to do that.”

Satchell did not start, but she recorded 11 kills and 3½ blocks. Junior Karly Recker, another reserve, had four blocks, while junior opposite Kendall Kipp had a match-high 23 kills with two blocks.

“We were blocking line seam, and then we were digging in the back row,” Recker said. “It was just a huge momentum push for us when we got those blocks.”

In Game 3, sophomore libero Michelle Won dug out a powerful attack from Huntington Beach senior opposite Jillian Kim. The ball came off of Won’s hands with such pace that it surpassed two Oilers on the other side of the net and dropped in to give CdM a 6-3 lead.

The momentum-building point was part of a 10-2 run by the Sea Kings (21-6) that allowed them to establish a 14-5 lead in the set.

“I thought Michelle and Maya Satchell did a great job on [Kim],” CdM coach Steve Astor said. “That’s what we wanted.

“Maya had great touches all night, and Michelle, that was a big dig. I think that played in [Kim’s] mind more than it did ours.”

The Sea Kings played well in every facet of the match. Ashley Humphreys had 54 assists. The combination of Humphreys, Won, Raleigh Garner and Tia Grippo combined for 34 digs.

Christina Davenport added 13 kills, while CdM collected 11 service aces as a team.

“They trusted each other,” Astor said of his players. “Our motto has been a one-touch focus these playoffs with one heartbeat. We did a really good job of that tonight.”

Oilers coach Craig Pazanti echoed Astor’s sentiments.

“I think the biggest thing was we knew that [Kipp] was going to get her kills,” Pazanti said. “Our whole goal was to try to stop everyone around her.

“Part of the thing that I thought they did better than I thought they would is the other players stepped up.”

CdM will play its first road match of the playoffs in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Sea Kings will face Studio City Harvard-Westlake (20-7), which beat No. 3-seeded Temecula Valley 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 25-22 in the second round on Thursday.

Kim led the Oilers with 15 kills. Mahina Williamson had 11 kills, and Bailey Nelson and Maggie Baker each had eight kills. Cristina Baily handed out 33 assists.

Pazanti surmised that the Division 1 bracket could go to any of the top 16 teams.

“This is the one year where I thought it was wide open,” he said, noting that CdM beat top-seeded Los Angeles Marymount during the regular season. “If you get through the second round, who knows?

“I would have loved to win the coin flip and play this one at home. It is what it is. That’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

The Oilers (25-7) will have their chance next year when CdM moves into the Sunset League.

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