Hart Wilts in Presence of Royalty : High school volleyball: Highlanders roll through second round of Division II playoffs with 15-9, 15-11, 15-9 victory.

Royal High’s annual march through the Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoffs seems a rite of spring, like baseball’s opening day or the cherry blossoms blooming in Washington, D.C.

The Highlanders have advanced to a divisional championship match each of the last five years, winning three times.

Tuesday night’s three-game sweep of Hart in a Division II second-round match, then, was merely another step toward the Highlanders’ usual goal of a section title.

Same old, same old? Not quite, because the 15-9, 15-11, 15-9 victory was a bit unusual for Royal (15-3) in that its middle attack--normally the team’s strong point--was misfiring a bit.

No matter, because Royal’s outside hitters, Scott Hambly and Danny Rizzo, played an excellent match and powered the team from the perimeter.

“Our outside hitting really dominated the game tonight,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “Usually our middle is our strength, so this is real exciting for me.”

Hambly, a 6-2 junior who bellows excitedly to no one in particular each time he makes a play, had plenty of chances to hone his in-your-face yell. He had 11 kills, passed the ball well and had two aces.

“He’s our spirit,” Ferguson said. “He has so much energy that sometimes I have to tie him down a little, but he’s a lot of fun to coach. He’s the best gamer I’ve had in a long time.”

Hart closed to 13-11 in the second game. But the Indians (14-4) lost their serve on a net violation, then allowed a free ball to fall on the court to make it 14-11. Rizzo (nine kills, three aces) closed the game with an ace on a jump serve.

Royal took a 12-0 lead in game three and cruised the rest of the way. Matt Olsen added eight kills for Royal, and Garrison Chaffee and Eric Carlsen each had seven kills. Setter Josh White had 41 assists.