Tritons Tower Above Chargers

San Clemente used its superior size up front and a precision passing game to defeat Edison, 15-5, 15-5, 15-6, in a second-round Southern Section Division II boys’ volleyball playoff match Tuesday at San Clemente High.

All six Triton starters were at least 6 feet tall, including 6-7 middle blocker Tim Burnette, while the Chargers (19-13) had three 5-10 players in its starting lineup.

“We wanted to force them to hit against our two middle blockers,” San Clemente Coach Ken Goldstone said. “We figured we could attack with our middles and keep them off-balance.”

Burnette and 6-5 outside hitter Nick Gardner combined for a majority of the team’s 12 blocks, sending a message that the Chargers would have to hit over the front row and hope that the Tritons’ back row would falter.

But it didn’t happen. Led by Dusty Swenson’s 13 digs, San Clemente took early leads in each game that it never gave up.

The only Edison player to have any significant success against the bigger Triton front line was 6-1 outside hitter Sean McLaren, who had a match-high 15 kills.

“We’ve dealt with size all year long in the Sunset League,” Edison Coach Brian Boone said. “We just didn’t pass well today and that made a big difference.”

Gardner led San Clemente with 12 kills and Eli Owens added eight. Setter Dan Talcott had 28 assists and three kills.

The Tritons (13-6) advanced to play either top-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa or Woodbridge in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Vince DiCanzio

In other Division II matches:

Marina 3, Canyon 1--Drew Wilson recorded 29 kills and Steffin Rangel had 25 as Marina (19-3) won, 15-5, 15-2, 15-17, 15-13.

In Division I:

Capistrano Valley 3, San Gabriel 0--Jared Levy had 13 kills, Nic Vislay had 12 kills and six blocks and setter Jeff Craw had 39 assists for second-seeded Capistrano Valley (15-0), which won, 15-2, 15-6, 15-6.

Dana Hills 3, Rialto Eisenhower 0--David Pettijon and Lance Fries each had 11 kills and Mike Murphy added 20 assists and four blocks as Dana Hills (11-7) swept Eisenhower (10-1), 15-6, 15-3, 15-4.

Fountain Valley 3, Century 0--Russell Holmes had 10 kills and seven blocks and setter Joe Volz had 39 assists for top-seeded Fountain Valley (12-3) in a 15-1, 15-3, 15-7 victory.

In Division III:

Mater Dei 3, Tustin 0--Jon Daze had 14 kills, Joe Groff added 13 and Paul Munoz 11 for Mater Dei (23-7), which won, 15-8, 15-3, 15-8.

Mike Gazzano had 39 assists for the Monarchs, and Andrew Rifkin had 11 kills for Tustin.

Newport Harbor 3, Valencia 0--Christian Berg-Hansen had eight kills and Morgan Craig and Greg Perrine added seven each for the top-seeded Sailors, who won, 15-3, 15-13, 15-4.

Newport Harbor (12-7) also got 37 assists from setter Loyd Wright.

Santa Margarita 3, Hemet West Valley 0--Blake Robinson had 14 kills and Ryan Perry 10 as Santa Margarita (24-7) won easily, 15-3, 15-10, 15-3.

In Division IV:

Corona del Mar 3, San Gabriel Gabrielino 0--Charlie Alshuler had 15 kills and Evan Burden collected 40 assists and nine digs for Corona del Mar (13-6) in a 15-3, 15-10, 15-10 victory.

Ocean View 3, Cerritos Valley Christian 0--Jack Hauck had 15 kills and Jason Roth added 14 kills and nine blocks for host Ocean View (19-1), which won, 15-10, 17-15, 15-13.

In Division V:

Brethren Christian 3, Villanova Prep 1--Second-seeded Brethren Christian (16-0) got 21 kills from Eric MacDonald and 12 kills and 17 digs from Steve Cross in its 14-16, 15-11, 15-8, 15-9 victory.