Sea Kings looking for three-peat
The Happy Birthday chants began early in the second set at Corona del Mar High, and the birthday boy, Sam Kobrine, heard the home fans. The singing pumped him up and he thanked the crowd by recording four of the first five points in Game 2, all kills.
It seemed as though Kobrine would be celebrating his 18th birthday dinner early on Thursday. The UCLA-bound senior produced 13 kills in the first two sets that the Sea Kings won against Beckman in the semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoffs.
A third sweep of the Patriots this year appeared in store, and Kobrine and the Sea Kings would easily advance to their third straight SoCal Regional final.
Not so fast.
The Patriots became the first Pacific Coast League team to take a set from CdM since 2014 and they forced a fourth set. Then they were three points away from playing a five-set match with the Sea Kings.
Beckman led the fourth set, 22-20, and then those same chants Kobrine enjoyed listening to earlier grew louder. The Sea Kings rattled off four straight points, and the fourth was a Kobrine kill that put CdM at match point.
That marked Kobrine’s 24th and final kill. The outside hitter and the No. 3-seeded Sea Kings finished off No. 7 Beckman, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, to reach their first SoCal Regional Division I finale in the program’s history.
The Sea Kings wanted to see No. 1 Los Angeles Loyola, the team that handed CdM a devastating five-set loss in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals last Saturday, but they’re getting No. 5 Manhattan Beach Mira Costa. The Mustangs held on to win at rival Loyola, 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 15-11, on Thursday night.
Saturday’s matchup between CdM (29-6) and Mira Costa (27-6) will be their second in 11 days. This one takes place eight miles away from CdM, at Edison High in Huntington Beach at 5:30 p.m.
The site of the SoCal Regional Division I championship is fitting if you asked CdM’s Matt Ctvrtlik, a future Harvard setter. He hasn’t forgotten how the Sea Kings’ home opener three years ago took place at Edison because CdM’s campus lost power.
“Edison was our first [home] match my freshman year and then ending there also is ironic,” Ctvrtlik said with a grin. “It will be fun.
“I think our team is ready to go.”
Ctvrtlik, Kobrine and Will Hunter are three CdM seniors who want to close out their stellar careers with a win. They helped CdM get past a formidable opponent in Beckman (33-7), which went into the match coming off an impressive five-set upset at No. 2 Clovis Buchanan in the opening round on Tuesday.
The Sea Kings’ first-round match at home, while it was a four-set win over San Diego Cathedral Catholic, Coach Steve Conti wasn’t happy with the their energy. He got them prepared the following day, working them hard in practice, knowing the Sea Kings were facing a different Beckman team than the one they defeated twice in league.
Beating a quality team like Beckman three times in a season was a concern for Conti.
Beckman, which has never beaten CdM, no team in league has since 2006, went into the match with nothing to lose.
“We felt like this one was one that we could just come out without any fear,” said Beckman Coach Darin McBain, who led his program to its first appearance in the SoCal Regional tournament. “[We have] never gone five [sets] with [the Sea Kings during my 10 years at the helm]. That was our opportunity right there. We were up, [22-20], and they went on a [four-point run] there to get that lead back.”
Game 4 went back and forth, featuring 14 ties. No team took more than a two-point lead.
Beckman went ahead, 22-20, after two consecutive points from Brayden Wiley, who had a kill and block. A service error by Beckman made it a one-point set, and then Hunter hammered his 13th kill, before he teamed up with Ctvrtlik to stuff Wiley, giving CdM a 23-22 lead.
The Patriots called a timeout. When play resumed, Ctvrtlik, who amassed 51 assists, to go with five digs, two kills, two block assists and two service aces, went to Kobrine, who delivered a cross-court kill. At match point, Beckman’s Spencer Olivier, a junior outside hitter committed to Long Beach State, registered his 25th kill, to cut CdM’s lead to 24-23.
With their second chance at match point, Hunter pounded a kill, punching CdM’s ticket to its third SoCal Regional finals appearance in a row. The last two trips came in Division II, and while the Sea Kings prevailed each time, claiming the top division would be more remarkable.
They have to get through Mira Costa, the same team the Sea Kings swept on the road in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs on May 18. For now, Kobrine just wanted to soak in CdM’s latest victory, and with good reason.
“It’s really fun to come out here and get a win on my birthday,” said Kobrine, as someone stopped by to wish him a Happy Birthday before he enjoyed the rest of his special night.
