HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Royal Beats Defending Division I Champ

There would not be a repeat of last week for the Royal High boys’ volleyball team.

Nor would there be a repeat of last year for Loyola.

The Highlanders can thank middle blocker Joe Olsen on both counts.

Olsen racked up a career-high 30 kills and added eight blocks to propel the Highlanders to a 15-8, 12-15, 15-1, 15-1 victory over defending Southern Section Division I champion Loyola in a second-round playoff match Tuesday night at Loyola.

Royal had trouble last week in the first round against Dos Pueblos and needed five games to advance.

But on Tuesday Royal (17-1) won the final two games in rapid fashion after dropping the second game.

“When we lost the second game, we didn’t want that to happen again,” said Olsen, who had 11 kills in the last game.

“We wanted to come in here and play well. Now we know that any time we get down, we can come back.”

The Highlanders, who lost in the quarterfinals last year to Santa Barbara, will face Huntington Beach in the quarterfinals Friday.

Royal won the third game after jumping to an 8-0 lead and dominated the fourth, building a 12-0 lead.

Kevin Schommer’s serving was crucial in both games. Schommer had eight of his match-high 16 service points in the last two games. He also finished with 18 kills and 13 digs.

Loyola (13-4), the second-place team from the Mission League, won the second game, but not without a fight. Royal trailed throughout, but battled back from 7-2 and 11-6 deficits to twice come within two points, at 12-10 and 14-12 behind the play of Olsen and Schommer, who had eight kills and five digs in the game.

The Highlanders staved off four game points before giving way to the play of Mark Stansbury and Curt Toppel, who each had four kills in the game. Toppel, a 6-6 freshman middle blocker, recorded a pair of critical kills after Royal pulled to within 12-10.

Leads were gained and lost in spurts in the first game, which included 46 sideouts. Royal eventually worked its way to a 6-2 advantage, but saw the edge close to 6-5 before building it back up again to 12-6 and closing out with three of the last five points.

John Baxter finished with 69 assists, while Jimmy Bonelli had 15 kills and nine service points.

Royal middle blocker Ryan Denihan shook off the effects of a sprained ankle suffered in the season finale against Thousand Oaks and recorded eight kills.

Bishop Montgomery d. Bell-Jeff, 15-6, 15-5, 15-3--David Montes had 17 assists and Darius Spencer added five digs for the Guards (17-6) in a second-round Division III playoff loss.

Harvard-Westlake d. Santa Barbara 15-6, 15-10, 16-14--The Wolverines swept the Dons in a Division I match at Santa Barbara High.

Harvard-Westlake will play the winner of Westlake-Esperanza in a quarterfinal match on Friday.

Claremont d. Canyon, 8-15, 8-15, 15-12, 15-8, 15-12--The Cowboys (15-3) blew a two-set lead in a Division II second-round playoff match at Canyon.

Steve Snow had 24 kills and Rick Sweetnam added 15 for the Cowboys.