Southern Section Volleyball : Sea Kings Rally Past Dana Hills

The players on the Dana Hills High School volleyball team can look themselves in their mirrors this morning because they played nobly in defeat in the Southern Section 4-A final against champion Corona del Mar.

When they do, however, they might want to make sure that the name of a volleyball manufacturer wasn’t tattooed on their foreheads in the meantime.

Corona del Mar, displaying impressive power and defense, lost the first game before coming back to take the next three to down Dana Hills, 10-15, 15-6, 15-12, 15-13, in the 4-A championship game at Westminster High Saturday night.

Both teams employed a spike-first-and-ask-questions-later style of play, but it was the Sea Kings who ultimately came up with the most answers to their opponent’s game and now enjoy the Southern Section championship as a result.

The Sea Kings also enjoyed a measure of revenge, considering that the Dolphins edged them, 3-2, in the very first match of the season.

Dana Hills (19-1) went through its season undefeated until they met Corona del Mar again Saturday while the Sea Kings (17-3) took a few lumps in league play before cruising through their half of the 4-A bracket.

“I thought we faced the tougher competition (of the two teams) during the season, but Dana Hills had the tougher bracket in the playoffs,” Corona del Mar Coach Matt Albade said.

Corona del Mar beat Harvard, El Toro and North Torrance to get to the final, while Dana Hills faced highly-regarded Estancia, Santa Barbara and Edison in its half of the bracket.

“Our best game was against (North) Torrance,” Albade said. “This is the first time we’ve played in this gym, and our players were real tight tonight. We just told them that we were rated No. 1 before the season began and were No. 1 going in here, and not to do anything in the game to let Dana Hills doubt that.”

The Dolphins likely felt that they merited consideration as the best team in 4-A after the first game, when they came back from a 7-4 deficit to take the game, 15-10. In that game, the Sea Kings’ spikers had not yet found their mark, while Dolphins Bryan McSweeney, Scott Geib and Dan Moomaw were up to par.

Those three go 6-foot-7, 6-6 and 6-4 across the front, but Corona del Mar’s defense eventually neutralized that size advantage by sending its best leapers to the net to reject many of their best spikes.

“They’re taller but not as experienced in hitting the ball as we are,” Albade said. “We played phenomenal defense on the tough plays but screwed up the easy ones.”

The Sea Kings came back to establish themselves in the second game, winning it easily, 15-6, and took a 14-7 lead in the second game before fending off the Dolphins, 15-12.

For Corona del Mar, it was the all-around games of middle blocker Guy Putnins and outside hitters Peter Nourse and Brian Lewis--particularly the spiking of Nourse--that helped it overcome Dana Hill’s superior size.

The third game of the match proved to be the toughest for the Sea Kings. Down 10-6, they battled back behind the serving of David Seals to take a 12-10 lead and they were never headed after that, winning 15-13.

In the 3-A title game:

Loyola 3, Los Altos 0--The Cubs swept the Conquistadores, 15-9, 15-11, 15-12, to win their second 3-A championship in three years. The Cubs, Central League champions, finished the season 16-3.