Corona del Mar Endures, Wins in Five Games

Simi Valley Royal hadn’t gone five games all season. Corona del Mar had done it twice in the last eight days. So when the fourth-seeded Sea Kings survived a two-game deficit to force a final game Wednesday night, Corona del Mar must have felt right at home.

The Sea Kings advanced to their first Division I championship match since 1989 with a 10-15, 14-16, 15-7, 15-8, 15-3 victory over the top-seeded Highlanders at Newport Harbor High.

The victory gave the Sea Kings another shot at third-seeded Newport Harbor in the championship match Saturday at Cerritos College. The teams split two Sea View League meetings this season.

“I just knew that we were battle tested,” Corona del Mar Coach Steve Conti said. “And having that kind of mental capacity, being battle tested in the Sea View League and having a real tough road through the playoffs, just put us in a situation where we knew we could always come back.”

Royal (26-1) showed its lack of experience in five-game matches this season. The Highlanders had swept all but two opponents going into the match and were gasping for air in the final game. The score was tied, 2-2, but the Sea Kings won 13 of the final 14 points. Setter Kevin Hansen ended the three-hour match with a back-row spike into the corner.

“When we saw the 26-0 record, we kind of got a little fired up,” said Hansen, who had 75 assists. “The first two games we were a little surprised, but after the second game the team came together and said, ‘We’ve been through a lot and we’re not going to end it here.’ ”

Corona del Mar (16-2), which survived five-game matches against El Toro in the second round and North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals, were led by Dennis Alshuler and Greg Stampley with 24 kills each and Morgan Jackson with 22.

“They played better defense than we did,” Royal Coach Bob Ferguson said. “They dug everything we threw at them. I’ve never seen a team dig a ball consistently through the match like that.”

Royal was led by Cameron Dickson with 25 kills and Ryan Moberly had 24.

“They weren’t that good, they just had power,” Hansen said. “They didn’t pass very well I thought. They could hit extremely well in the middle and we haven’t met many teams with good middles.”