PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : No. 1 El Toro Rolls Past Dana Hills

El Toro boys’ volleyball Coach Mike Jagd couldn’t have planned it better.

In fact, he was at a loss for words after the Chargers, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, dismantled third-ranked Dana Hills, 17-15, 15-6, 15-7, in a South Coast League match Thursday at Dana Hills.

“I’m stunned,” Jagd said. “But if we pass well, we can beat anyone.”

It wasn’t an ordinary victory for the Chargers . . . they dominated the match.

“They were in control the whole match,” Dana Hills Coach Oz Simmons said. “We’d have a string of errors and then we were playing catch-up all night.”

El Toro’s Ryan Mariano, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter, had 19 kills and four blocks and Doug Thompson had 12 kills.

Defensively, the Chargers neutralized Dana Hills’ bigger players, holding 6-5 Jeremy Darner to 10 kills, and 6-8 Bob Hefty and 6-4 Matt Clem to nine each.

But most importantly, the Chargers passed well and setter Todd Steinert, who had 47 assists, piloted an efficient attack.

“Todd did a spectacular job tonight,” Jagd said. “He was our MVP. We had Dana Hills scouted well and we knew where they were going to be; Todd got the ball to the right people.”

The right person was Mariano in most cases.

Dana Hills played El Toro tough in the first game, and led, 15-14, after Clem blocked a spike attempt by Mariano.

But Steinert went right back to Mariano, whose spike from the right side gave the Chargers the side out. Mariano then drew the Chargers even, 15-15, with a block and gave them a 16-15 lead with a spike from the back row.

Clem missed a spike long on game point and the Dolphins never got any closer.

In another South Coast League match:

San Clemente 3, Mater Dei 0--Gabe Gardner had 11 kills for the Tritons (6-0, 2-0), who won 16-14, 15-2, 16-14. Mark Pozsgai had 17 kills for Mater Dei (2-5, 0-2).

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 3, Rancho Alamitos 0--Trung Khuu had five aces for La Quinta (6-3, 5-1), which won 15-12, 15-6, 15-8.

Garden Grove 3, Los Amigos 0--Greg Blackner had 21 kills and setter Alber Cardenas had 35 assists for Garden Grove (3-5, 3-2), which upset Los Amigos (4-1 in league), 17-15, 15-7, 15-8.

Pacifica 3, Santiago 1--Ian Cheesman had 20 kills, Josh Pagtalunan had 16 and Mike Parsons had 15 for Pacifica (2-5, 2-3) in a 15-9, 15-6, 14-16, 15-4 victory.

In the Sea View League:

Woodbridge 3, Irvine 2--Junior Nathan Bennett had 30 kills and Steve Jobes added 18 for Woodbridge (4-4, 4-2), which won 11-15, 6-15, 15-9, 15-12, 15-12.

In the Sunset League:

Ocean View 3, Servite 0--Nate Martin had 12 kills and eight blocks and Mike Carney added nine kills and eight blocks for Ocean View (3-4, 2-3), which won 15-2, 16-14, 15-9.