Calvary Chapel Returns to Volleyball Final

Third-seeded Calvary Chapel advanced to its fourth Southern Section boys’ volleyball final in the last five seasons with a 15-8, 15-6, 15-11 victory over Downey Warren in the Division II semifinals Wednesday night at Warren High.

The Eagles (15-3) will get a rematch with top-seeded Tustin, which defeated Calvary Chapel in four games earlier in the season, Saturday at Cerritos College.

Calvary Chapel, which won the Division III title last season, had an advantage in size and skill against the Bears, who reached the semifinals by defeating second-seeded Palmdale Highland in four games last Friday.

Robert Schildts was a key factor for the Eagles as the 6-foot-7 senior put away 14 kills. He was equally tough on defense, coming up with 10 digs.

“Coach Chuck Wright has really worked on my defensive skills,” Schildts said. “He knows I need to develop my skills for me to be playing in the back row and that has been really important.”

Outside hitter Jason Mandall added 12 kills, setter Matt Wright had 42 assists and Nate Morton and Aaron Fountain contributed three blocks each.

Schildts paced the Eagles in the opening game with six kills as Calvary Chapel scored the last four points, the final coming when Warren’s Paul Sinclair sent his spike wide.

Calvary Chapel kept the momentum in Game 2 by taking a quick 10-2 lead. The Bears crawled back to 13-6, but Simon Layva’s bump off a pass went wide and Chris English then shanked his set for the winning point.

The Bears continued to show short spurts followed by long droughts in Game 3. They grabbed a 4-0 lead, then gave up four straight. Warren then took a 6-4 lead, but watched as Calvary Chapel scored six consecutive points for a 10-6 advantage.

Calvary Chapel made it 14-9, when Robert Tauler shanked a Jose Cervantes serve and the Eagles ended the match on Schildts’ 14th kill.