Listless Royal Falls in Final to Esperanza : High school volleyball: Highlanders come out flat, are swept in Southern Section Division II championship match.

The pendulum of emotion often has swung in favor of the Royal High boys’ volleyball team.

Saturday it helped to undermine the Highlanders.

Playing uncharacteristically listless and error-prone, Royal was swept by Esperanza, 16-14, 15-10, 15-12, in the Southern Section Division II championship match at Cerritos College.

“That spark wasn’t there,” senior middle hitter Josh Penrod said. “We just didn’t have that same enthusiasm.”

Said senior outside hitter Jason Hughes: “We had no spirit. We’re usually so emotional. I have no idea why we were like that but I know this was the wrong time to have a letdown.”

Top-seeded Royal--the two-time defending Marmonte League and 1992 state champion--ends the season 20-1. Esperanza is the first team win a match against Royal since the Highlanders lost to Harvard-Westlake in the 1991 3-A Division final. The loss snapped the Highlanders’ Southern Section-record 42-match winning streak.

Second-seeded Esperanza (18-1), champion of the Empire League, claimed its first boys’ volleyball sectional title. The Aztecs lost last season’s emotional 3-A title contest to the Highlanders in five games, 10-15, 15-13, 4-15, 15-11, 15-11.

After their somewhat surprising easy victory, Aztec players gushed about what motivated them.

It was revenge they sought.

And revenge they had.

“It was sweet,” senior outside hitter Brad Goldston said. “It really hurt what happened to us last year. Revenge was a key.”

Said senior outside hitter Paul Nihipali: “We wanted to get them back.”

Royal was out of sync from the opening serve. The Highlanders committed one unforced error after another in digging themselves into early, large deficits.

Conversely, Esperanza came out blazing.

The Aztecs opened the first game with a 7-0 blitz. Esperanza moved the ball around the court, setting up Nihipali for thunderous kills. Royal compounded the problem by misfiring on serves and sideout chances.

Royal managed to fight back and tie the score, 14-14. However, Esperanza scored the final two points. “I think we would have been really pumped if we could have made it over that hump,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “We just couldn’t climb back.”

The first-game loss was Royal’s first in the playoffs and only the second this season. Nihipali, who has accepted a scholarship to UCLA, slammed home the final point.

Royal did not fare much better at the outset of the second game despite enjoying its only lead of the match, 1-0. The Aztecs quickly jumped ahead, 5-1.

“When you play a good team, you have to start good early and we didn’t,” Ferguson said. “We made the effort but we just couldn’t turn the corner. The unforced errors really hurt us.”

So too did Nihipali.

The 6-foot-7 senior, who finished with a match-high 31 kills, took over in the second game after Royal closed to within 13-10. Nihipali raised his play, outjumping Highlander blockers to drive home windmill spikes and help his team win.

In the third game, Esperanza opened with a 6-0 lead. Ferguson called a timeout and the Highlanders responded, scoring 11 of the next 17 points to trail by only 12-11.

After trading points, Hughes fired long to give Esperanza a 14-12 lead. Goldston’s spike finished off Royal.