Royal’s Timing Repels Loyola

Bob Ferguson said he had no idea. He didn’t want to know, didn’t want to hazard a guess.

It was a simple question really--what time would the championship match be Saturday if Royal High won its semifinal Wednesday night?--but Ferguson said he wasn’t looking that far ahead.

Neither was his team, he promised.

It might have been rhetoric from the Royal coach, but he appeared to have a point. After a listless first game, Royal bounced back and bounced out Loyola, 3-15, 15-6, 15-6, 15-4, in a Southern Section Division II boys’ volleyball playoff match at Loyola Marymount.

David Russell delivered 28 kills and the Highlanders gained a modicum of revenge for the second consecutive time in the playoffs, upending a team that defeated them in four games in a regular-season nonleague match.

The Highlanders (26-4) dropped Huntington Beach Marina in the quarterfinals after losing to the Vikings in the Santa Barbara tournament.

“Never in doubt,” Ferguson said with a smile after the match.

It didn’t look that way after the first game, with Royal committing more hitting errors (11) than kills (10).

But the Highlanders went on a stunning three-game run, holding second-seeded Loyola (18-2) to a total of 16 points and advancing to a championship match for the first time since losing to Esperanza in the Division I championship match in 1997.

Russell, who has signed with UCLA, had seven kills in the second game and 10 in the third.

“Russell’s unstoppable,” Loyola Coach Mike Boehle said. “He probably hit 1,000%. We didn’t stop him once.”

Middle blocker Kyle Vondrak was also strong in the third game, with eight kills and three blocks.

“David and Kyle were burning the balls,” Ferguson said.

The fourth game ended quickly, Royal taking a 7-1 lead and never slowing down.

The Highlanders have another shot at redemption Saturday against top-seeded Mira Costa, which defeated Royal in four games in a nonleague match. The championship is at 4 p.m. at Cypress College.

“We’ve got to get one more,” Ferguson said. “We’ve beat two teams that beat us. Now we’ve got to match up with Mira Costa.”

Derek Otte, one of the top juniors in Southern California, had 22 kills for Loyola, which didn’t come close to duplicating the prowess it showed in the first game.

Otte and Russell are teammates for L.A. Athletic Club. Otte won the first match, Russell won the last . . . and most important.

“It’s something to talk about during club season,” Russell said.