PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Carlin Gets Going to Rally Capistrano Valley

Capistrano Valley High School was searching desperately for an outside hitter in the fourth game of its South Coast League boys’ volleyball match against El Toro Friday night.

With his leading hitter, Ryan Benn, on the sideline with an injured ankle, and his team facing match point, Coach Ken Goldstone offered setter Eric Olson one piece of advice: Get the ball to outside hitter Chris Carlin.

And Carlin didn’t disappoint, scoring 16 of his 29 kills in the final two games as the Cougars rallied for a 13-15, 16-14, 9-15, 19-17, 15-11 victory at El Toro.

El Toro led, 17-16, in the fourth game, but Carlin had three consecutive kills as Capistrano Valley rallied for the victory and sent the match into the fifth game.

Carlin keyed a similar comeback in the fifth game. El Toro built a 5-0 lead, but Capistrano Valley rallied to tie the score at 11-11. Carlin knocked down the next four kill spikes to give the Cougars the victory.

“Chris and Vance Hickin (22 kills) were unbelievable out there,” Goldstone said. “They were both very aggressive. I think we played pretty well without Ryan.”

Capistrano Valley (10-6, 6-4 in league play) clinched a second-place finish to Dana Hills in the league standings, and, more importantly, stayed in the chase for a host site in the Southern Section playoffs. El Toro dropped to 9-11, 5-5.

A coin flip Monday will decide which second-place teams earn host sites for the playoffs.

“We knew what winning or losing would do coming in,” Goldstone said. “We responded pretty well to it.”

Capistrano Valley trailed by at least three points in all but the fourth game. Goldstone said his team rarely falls behind in games.

“We made it very tough on ourselves,” Goldstone said. “We gave up so many points in streaks.

“Unfortunately we had to give up 10 or 11 points before we gritted our teeth and started playing. We have a lot of young kids (eight juniors) who are starting to come together. We were hoping just to have a winning record this year, but I guess we’re a little ahead of schedule.”

El Toro Coach Mike Jagd said he was disappointed with how his team played, but offered no excuses.

“I have no beef,” Jagd said. “Capistrano played well at the end. The officials were fine. We just didn’t perform when we needed to.

“We had played well throughout, but there were times that we had to put the ball away and we didn’t. Sometimes, it’s the fault of the athlete. Other times, it’s just fate.”

Jagd said the fourth game was the turning point.

“We had lots of opportunities where a good block would have ended it,” Jagd said. “We needed better blocking.”

After losing the first game, Capistrano Valley fought back from an 11-6 deficit to win the second. The Cougars tapped several shots over El Toro’s blocking and into a gap in the middle of the defense.

“El Toro was covering the line on all of our dink shots and left the middle open,” Goldstone said.

Outside hitter Mike Shannon, who will play for Pepperdine next fall, had 24 kills, three blocks and three aces for El Toro. Outside hitter Mike Melaco also had 24 kills and setter Ryan Van Rensselaer added six kills and five service aces.

In other South Coast League matches:

Mission Viejo 3, San Clemente 0--Greg Amaya had 18 kills and five blocks and John Higgins had 43 assists to lead host Mission Viejo (7-7, 5-5) to a 15-8, 15-8, 15-8 victory.

Dana Hills 3, Irvine 0--Setter Jason Hinchman had 12 blocks and outside hitters Dave Hagen and Kyle Springer each had 13 kills to lead host Dana Hills (11-3, 9-1) to a 15-5, 15-7, 16-14 victory.

In the Sea View League:

Corona del Mar 3, Estancia 0--Jon Upham had eight kills and seven blocks and Steve Olsen had 32 assists as Corona del Mar (9-5, 9-1) clinched the league championship with a 15-4, 15-10, 15-7 victory.

Newport Harbor 3, University 0--Ian Juberg had 15 kills and six blocks to lead host Newport Harbor to a 15-6, 15-8, 15-10 victory and a second-place finish in the league standings.

In the Olympic League:

Santa Margarita 3, Calvary Chapel 2--Kevin Rice had 19 kills and five blocks and Sean Regan had 18 kills as host Santa Margarita won, 12-15, 14-16, 15-8, 15-11, 15-13.