Marina Gets Past Irvine in Volleyball

Irvine arrived short-handed for its nonleague boys’ volleyball match Thursday at Marina.

The top two setters for the Vaqueros, Daniel Christofferson and Justin Marayag, missed the match so they could perform at Carnegie Hall in New York with their high school singing group. Their absence helped the fifth-ranked Vikings escape with a 15-12, 15-9, 5-15, 16-14 victory.

“We’re just thankful we could beat a Sea View League team,” Marina Coach Darrick Lucero said. “This is the first time in a long time that we’ve beaten one.”

Irvine Coach Mark Mednick was forced to start senior Brandon Florence, who played for the Vaqueros as freshman, but spent the last two years in Utah, at a high school that didn’t field a volleyball team.

“Florence is a couple years behind,” Mednick said. “He’s like a sophomore in a senior’s body.”

Florence had a rough start. He was called for six illegal sets in the opening game, which led to five points for Marina (4-1).

The Vikings then began to stiffen at the net in the second game. Trailing 7-6, Marina setter Seth Cutrell was involved in three consecutive point-scoring blocks that moved the Vikings ahead for good.

The sixth-ranked Vaqueros (4-2) began to mesh in the third game. They scored the first 10 points and then forced a fourth game on a block by Paul Ambrozich.

Marina bounced back to take an11-5 lead in the final game, but Irvine came back to take the lead, 14-13, on a back row kill by Chris Ferguson.

The Vikings were able to earn a sideout on Ferguson’s service error, and then put away the Vaqueros with three consecutive points.

“We’re not playing well enough to win a [Southern Section] championship and that’s what we’re trying to do here,” Lucero said. “We have enough quality guys that we should not come out and perform like that.”