SOUTHERN SECTION VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Edison Beats the Blocks, Holds Off Santa Barbara

After the Edison High School boys’ volleyball team lost to Mira Costa in late March, Charger Coach Brian Rofer told his players the next day that they had the potential to play in the Southern Section 4-A championship game.

The Chargers proved him right Tuesday night.

Edison used two 4-0 runs and held off a Santa Barbara comeback in the final game to defeat the Dons, 13-15, 15-13, 10-15, 15-9, 15-13, in the 4-A semifinals at Santa Barbara City College.

The Chargers, 17-1 and winners of 13 consecutive matches, advance to the 4-A finals for the first time since 1986, when they finished second to Dana Hills. Santa Barbara finished the season at 14-3.

“This feels great,” said middle blocker Karl Van Reusen, who led the Chargers with 23 kills. “Coach Rofer told us to get by these guys, get to the finals and have fun.”

It won’t be that easy.

Edison’s victory sets up a rematch with Mira Costa, which defeated San Marcos in the other semifinal. Mira Costa, 17-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally by Volleyball Monthly, defeated Edison in a five-game, three-hour match earlier this season.

The finals are set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Marina High School.

“When we played Mira Costa the first time, they didn’t block as well as Santa Barbara did tonight,” Rofer said. “These guys blocked everything. They blocked better than us.”

Edison built a 13-7 lead in the final game, but a block and an ace by John Penrose sparked a 6-0 Santa Barbara run that tied the score. But Edison sealed the victory when Santa Barbara’s Danny Jittayasotorn and Shaun Rohrbach hit kill spikes out of bounds.

“What hurts the most about this is that we came back and we got the ball to Danny, who has carried us all year, and he hits it out,” Santa Barbara Coach Bob Moore said. “I guess that’s fate.”

Maybe fate had something to do with the fourth game, too.

Trailing two games to one and with the score tied, 9-9, in the fourth game, Edison went on a 6-0 run. Jason Curry had an ace serve and Van Reusen had a block and two kills to spark the run.

In the first game, Santa Barbara rallied from deficits of 6-2 and 8-6 to tie it at 13-13. A net violation by Edison and a hitting error by Daryl Ayers gave Santa Barbara the final two points and the game.

With the score tied at 6-6 in the second game, Van Reusen was penalized with a red card after pointing across the net after a kill. His theatrics ignited the Chargers, who scored the next six points to take a 12-6 lead.

But Santa Barbara, as it did in the first game, rallied and eventually tied it at 13-13. Edison halted the comeback behind a Van Reusen block and an ace by Josh Snyder to even the match at a game each.

Santa Barbara made its big move in the third game. Trailing, 9-6, the Dons went on a 7-0 run, capped by two kills and a block by Alexey Dvortcsak. Jittayasotorn’s service ace and a kill by John Penrose gave the Dons a 15-10 victory and a two-games-to-one lead.

Penrose led Santa Barbara with 18 kills and Dvortcsak added 14.

Steve Snyder had 17 kills, Joe McCarthy 13, Ayers 10 and Aaron Boone seven for Edison.

“I couldn’t be more happy to be in the finals,” said Rofer, the Chargers’ first-year coach. “It’s all up to the players from here.”