Eagles Win, Remain in Top Spot

Both sides felt they came away with something in Santa Margarita’s 15-4, 15-7, 8-15, 16-14 Sea View League boys’ volleyball victory Tuesday over visiting Corona del Mar.

Santa Margarita, top-ranked in Southern Section Division II and No. 2 in the county, remains atop the league standings, a game ahead of Newport Harbor and two games ahead of Corona del Mar (6-3, 3-2), heading into Friday’s encounter at Newport Harbor.

And Corona del Mar, third-ranked in Southern Section Division III and No. 6 in the county, extended the Eagles after falling behind two games to none. The Sea Kings battled back from a 3-0 deficit in Game 3 to win and held a 14-11 advantage in Game 4.

“We just wanted some respect,” Corona del Mar Coach Steve Conti said. “We came out real flat and tired. But as the match went on we got better and I think we earned some of that respect.”

Santa Margarita Coach Eddie Rapp agreed, saying that the four-game test was a good challenge. It was only the second time that the Eagles have gone past three games in league play.

“They really caught fire and dug a lot of balls to get back in the game,” he said. “But it was good for us because at the end we played well under pressure.”

The Eagles survived some poor passing in the first two games and took advantage of mental mistakes made by the Sea Kings. Santa Margarita fell behind, 3-0, but took the first game after scoring eight points off unforced Corona del Mar errors. Santa Margarita, behind three key kills and the game-ending stuff block by senior outside hitter Justin DeBlasio, closed the game with seven consecutive points.

The second game began as a carbon copy of the first. Santa Margarita led, 10-3, after middle blocker Tim Gerlach blocked Blair Hoppe’s kill attempt.

In the third game, it was Santa Margarita’s turn to fumble the ball, committing 10 errors that led directly to Corona del Mar points.

The Sea Kings carried the momentum into the fourth game, but Gerlach, who had a game-high 19 kills, denied Hoppe his 14th kill of the night with the game-winning block.

Corona del Mar outside hitter Tim Andrews finished with 18 kills and Santa Margarita setter Adam Breault had 57 assists.