Sea Kings Fall in San Diego

The unforced mistakes that have plagued the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team were its downfall again Tuesday night in a 15-8, 15-9, 15-10 loss to host University of San Diego High in the first round of the Division III state championships.

“It has definitely been an up-and-down type of season,” Sea King Coach Steve Conti said. “They took advantage of our mistakes and made the most of them.”

Corona del Mar’s miscues, combined with a healthy dose of Dons’ junior outside hitter Kristina Hoban (18 kills), were too much for the Sea Kings. Senior Lindsay Anstandig led the Sea Kings (18-11) with eight kills. Katie Duggan added seven and Sara Deming had six.

Corona del Mar took an early 7-2 lead in the first game, forcing the second-seeded Dons (37-3) to call timeout. From there, the San Diego Section Division III champions went on a 13-1 run to take the opener.

The Sea Kings jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second game, before the Dons scored eight in a row to take the lead for good. The final game was controlled by the Dons from the outset.