Quartz Hill Deals Out Tough Wild-Card Win

The Quartz Hill High boys’ volleyball team keeps beating back adversity.

The Rebels, who forfeited two Golden League victories--and a league co-championship--last week, defeated Santa Monica, 15-11, 8-15, 15-5, 6-15, 16-14, in a Southern Section Division I wild-card match on Wednesday at Quartz Hill.

Brandan Butchart, who has signed with Cal State Northridge, delivered 28 kills for Quartz Hill (14-3), which plays at Long Beach Poly in a first-round match on Friday.

Jared Corpening had 20 kills and 15 blocks for Quartz Hill, which has rebounded well since forfeiting victories over Antelope Valley and Palmdale for using an academically ineligible player.

The Rebels, ranked No. 3 in the region by The Times, defeated Littlerock and Lancaster in the final two league matches.

They came up with a big fifth game against Santa Monica.

Corpening’s block put the Rebels ahead, 15-14, and a kill by Clint Coe ended the match.

Coe, a junior, finished with seven kills.

Middle blocker Sahael Almuallem had 13 kills and seven blocks for Quartz Hill.

“I was so afraid because the wind was kind of taken out of our sails,” Quartz Hill Coach Jason Peplinski said of the forfeits.

“I think this will be a motivational factor. It was a big moral victory for our kids.”

In other Division I wild-card matches:

Thousand Oaks def. Camarillo, 15-4, 12-15, 15-6, 15-3--Shane Judd had 15 kills and Mark Kobal added 13 for host Thousand Oaks.

Brock Redmond had six aces for Thousand Oaks (12-5), which plays No. 2-seeded Loyola (14-0) in the first round on Friday.

The Lancers will go against Stanford-bound middle blocker Curt Toppel, among the top players in the nation.

“He’ll get his kills, but we’ll have to make adjustments and be aggressive,” said Tom Black, Thousand Oaks’ first-year coach.

Simi Valley def. Oxnard, 15-10, 15-7, 15-9--Kurt Mjoen and Kyle McGilvray each had 15 kills and the visiting Pioneers won a playoff match for the first time.

The Pioneers (11-4) play Foothill League champion Canyon (11-3) in a first-round match on Friday.