Chaminade Comes Up With ‘Biggest Victory’

Already having secured a rare playoff berth, Chaminade High came up with what Coach Eric Dick called its “biggest victory of the season,” defeating Alemany, 10-15, 15-11, 15-13, 10-15, 15-12, in a Mission League boys’ volleyball match Friday night at Alemany.

“We knew we had made the playoffs, [but] losing tonight would have ended our [regular] season on a sour note,” Dick said.

The victory gave the Eagles (15-3, 9-3 in league play) a share of second place with Alemany (13-3, 9-3), behind league champion Loyola.

Chaminade, ranked No. 6 in the region by The Times, broke out to 6-3 and 8-4 leads in the final game. No. 5-ranked Alemany responded with four consecutive points, tying the score, 8-8.

The Eagles never trailed again, scoring four of the next five points. Alemany pulled within 13-12 when Chaminade was called for going over the net. Dick and senior setter Paul Jocas both received yellow cards for protesting the call.

The Eagles regained the serve on junior outside hitter Adam Hickerson’s kill and moved a point away from the victory on Jocas’ block. Alemany got a side out, only to have Darrin Phillips put a spike out of bounds. Chaminade clinched the victory with Jon Dudor’s block.

“The first time we played them, we made way too many mistakes,” said Dick, whose team lost in five games to the Indians earlier in the season.

Dick also attributed the victory to Chaminade’s strong defense.

Hickerson had 22 kills, Brian Bardos added 15 and Art D’Egidio had 14. Phillips and Joe Chavez each had 22 kills for Alemany.

“It was an emotional match,” Alemany Coach James Quaglino said. “Chaminade played with a lot of emotion, which you’ve got to use to your advantage. When someone plays with a lot of emotion, you’ve just got to be smarter and not try to battle with them with emotion.”