PREP ROUNDUP : Capistrano Valley Beats Irvine in 4 Games

With a team of seniors and the status of the No. 1 ranking in the county, the Capistrano Valley boys’ volleyball team is sticking to fundamentals with the intent of peaking toward the end of the season.

So far so good.

In its second nonleague match of the season, host Capistrano Valley relied on a team effort to defeat Irvine, 15-10, 15-10, 5-15, 15-5.

“We diversified our attack and we had a lot of on-on-one situations,” Coach Ken Goldstone said. “We have too many weapons when we’re spreading the ball around well.”

Senior outside hitters Aaron Garcia and Steve Airey passed effectively, creating a lot of on-on-one situations for the Cougars (2-0). Garcia had 17 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Airey had 12 kills and eight digs.

Capistrano Valley took a 6-1 lead in the fourth game, which was capped by two kills by outside hitter Evan Alexander, who had 11 kills in the match. Bryan Mayes served five consecutive points to give the Cougars a 14-5 lead. Setter Eric McKelvie, with 45 assists, served out match point, which Alexander secured with a stuff block.

In the third game, Capistrano Valley was a little too relaxed, allowing fifth-ranked Irvine to take a 6-0 lead and eventually win that game.

Senior outside hitter Doug Gotthard sparked the run for the Vaqueros (1-2), serving five consecutive points, including a service winner. Jeff Miller and Greg Wakeham led the attack in the third game, combining for five kills. Wakeham and Gotthard finished with 13 kills apiece.

Middle blocker Eric Seiffert had 11 kills, six digs and two blocks for Capistrano Valley.