Calvary Chapel Powers Its Way Around Tustin

Scratch the surface of most strong performances and you will find the pain that provided the spark. Just ask Jason Mandall.

Mandall had 21 kills to lead Calvary Chapel to a 15-10, 15-7, 15-5 victory over Tustin in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division II boys’ volleyball playoffs Friday at Calvary Chapel.

Mandall was driven by the painful memory of Calvary Chapel’s four-game loss to Tustin in the Division II final last year.

“I wasn’t really that confident and . . . they brought a couple of guys that were yelling at me from the sidelines,” Mandall said about that loss. “My coach reminded me every [practice since then] that I owe them.”

Mandall not only paid them back, he left a big tip with seven kills in each game.

Sparked by two-consecutive kills by Mandall, the Eagles broke out of a 9-9 tie and went on a 6-1 run to win the first game.

The Tillers jumped to a 7-4 lead in the second game but a combination block by Eagles Josh Lewis and Josh Miller stopped them in their tracks.

Lewis had a solo block for a point on the first serve of the third game and the Eagles never looked back.

Calvary Chapel (15-2) will play second-seeded Highland (16-0) in the semifinals Wednesday.

Although the match looked like a rematch of last season’s Division II final, Calvary Chapel and Tustin had major lineup changes from last season. Calvary Chapel lost three starters to graduation and Tustin lost all six.

The Eagles weathered the changes better than the Tillers, who lost a nonleague match to the Eagles in three games May 1.

“We thought we had a chance if we played tough and competed,” Tustin Coach Travis Turner said.

Turner tried to surprise the Eagles by bringing in reserve Daniel Dee-Zon to receive serve. Dee-Zon played well, but it wasn’t enough to stop third-seeded Calvary Chapel.

“They have better ball control than most teams in this division,” Turner said.

But being better than most isn’t good enough for Calvary Chapel Coach Chuck Wright, who was disappointed that normally hard-swinging Nate Morton finished the night with only eight kills.

“A lot of things weren’t happening tonight but we still played well enough to win so you can’t complain,” Wright said.

In another Division II match:

Foothill 3, Lakewood 1--Stuart Lambourne had 18 kills and Mike Major and Ryan Ellis had 14 kills each as Foothill defeated Lakewood, 15-10, 15-8, 14-16, 15-7. Foothill will Downey Warren in a semifinal game.

In Division I:

Capistrano Valley 3, Santa Barbara San Marcos 1--Mike Tully had 19 kills and Ryan Thurlow had 13 as Capistrano Valley defeated San Marcos (17-2), 15-6, 9-15, 15-9, 15-9, in the quarterfinals.

The Cougars (18-1) play Huntington Beach in the semifinals.

Huntington Beach 3, Simi Valley Royal 1--Dave McKenzie had 26 kills as Huntington Beach advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Simi Valley Royal (17-2), 15-8, 10-15, 15-13, 15-8. Teammate Evan Hook finished with 21 kills for the Oilers.

In Division III:

North Hollywood Campbell Hall 3 Capistrano Valley Christian 0--Dylan Herrick had 10 kills, five aces, six digs, and six blocks for second-seeded Campbell Hall (17-1), which defeated Capistrano Valley Christian, 15-3, 15-3, 15-8. Capistrano Valley Christian finished its season 17-2.