Orange County All-Star Volleyball : Despite Lockwood’s Heroics, South Squad Beats North in 4 Games

After his South team had defeated the North, 15-11, 15-4, 5-15, 15-12, Saturday in the eighth Orange County All-Star boys’ volleyball game at El Toro High School, Woodbridge Coach Steve Stratos was falling over himself to compliment Estancia’s Adam Lockwood.

“He’s just such a great player,” Stratos said of the CIF Player of the Year. “He makes other players better . . . brings them up to his level.”

Funny thing is that Lockwood wasn’t playing for Stratos, but for an admittedly weaker North squad.

The South had three players from Southern Section 4-A champion Corona del Mar and another from runner-up Dana Hills. It also had three players from Orange County Volleyball Tournament champion Laguna Beach, and one from that tournament’s second-place team, Woodbridge.

However, Lockwood and Fountain Valley’s Carlos Briceno almost upset the favored South by themselves, coming back after the South had won the first two games rather easily, 15-11 and 15-4.

Lockwood had seven kills, a block and managed to hit just about everything around him.

“He did everything he had to,” Stratos said. “I couldn’t believe the amount of court he was covering.”

The North broke out to a 9-1 lead in the third set with Lockwood getting four kills. Corona del Mar’s Guy Putnins and Peter Nourse blocked the South a little closer at 10-5.

Putnins ended the match with nine blocks and Nourse had five kills.

But Briceno cut short the South rally when he served two aces to put the North up by seven. When Adam Mathieu of Dana Hills attempted a tip-shot that fell out of bounds, the hopelessly out-manned North, had done something no one had expected. It won a set.

“I was really surprised we won,” said Briceno, the game’s Most Valuable Player. “They had so many great players I didn’t think we had a chance to get close.”

Briceno had six kills and two blocks in the match. But his biggest weapon may have been his topspin jump serve, which produced four aces and numerous headaches for the South.

Thanks to the efforts of Briceno and Lockwood, the North jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set. The South, though, led by Putnins and Bob Segger of Mission Viejo, outscored the North 14-5 to win the set.

The South’s depth showed in the second set when Stratos put in an entirely new team and came away with a 15-4 win.

“They just blew us out in the second game,” said North Coach Dan Glenn of Edison. “They really had the depth of talent on us. We matched up well with six, but they just had 12 really good players.”

In the fourth and ultimately deciding set, the North blew a four-point lead (10-6) as the South tied, 12-12.

Jon Schisler (Corona del Mar) spiked an attempted tip by Lockwood to bring the South to within two, and when Mike DeNicola blocked an attempted spike by Edison’s Dave Wetzel, the score was tied.

Laguna Beach’s Mike Stanford finished the match for the South with two service aces.

In the girls’ game, Irvine’s Elaina Oden ended her prep career by doing something unusual.

She lost.

Oden’s South team lost to the North, 15-17, 15-12, 15-10, 15-1.

Oden, the CIF Player of the Year who led the Vaqueros to the 4-A championship, was actually outhit by the North’s Brooke Herrington (Corona del Mar) who had 10 kills to Oden’s seven.

After playing three close matches, the deciding set was surprisingly easy for the North.

“After the third game, we had about six or seven players who were really ready to play,” North Coach Charlie Brande of Corona del Mar said. “We had come out pretty flat, but by that time we were playing pretty well.”

Herrington, who along with Oden will attend the University of the Pacific, set the pace in the fourth set, getting three kills as the North jumped out to a 5-0 lead. After some sloppy play by the South had increased the North’s lead to 10-0, Herrington was removed from the game. The North seemed to stagnate and the score reamained the same for quite a while.

Westminster’s Jackie Mendez then blocked, tipped and slammed the North to a 13-0 lead. Most Valuable Player Amy Hayes of Canyon put away a tip shot to give the North the match.

“I think everybody had the jitters when we started,” said the Stanford-bound Hayes (five kills, four blocks and one ace). “We started to play smoothly in that last game.”

South Coach Mark McKenzie of Irvine was understandably sad after coaching Oden, a four-year starter, for the last time.

“She’s the best athlete, boy or girl, I’ve ever had,” McKenzie said. “I’m going to miss her.”