Volleyball: Loyola pulls out five-set victory over Corona del Mar

High school volleyball in Southern California doesn’t get more exciting than what transpired on Wednesday night in a Southern Section Division 1 semifinal at Loyola.

Corona del Mar and the host Cubs fought to the bitter end. It took five sets, with neither team wanting to leave the court without a victory.

Twice Corona del Mar had match points in the fifth set. Twice Loyola fought it off. And in the end, Loyola pulled out a 25-17, 20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14 victory to advance to Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. championship match against defending champion Huntington Beach.

“It was an unbelievable victory,” Coach Michael Boehle said.

Stanford-bound Cole Paullin, UC Santa Barbara-bound Hayden Boehle and Harvard-bound Riley Moore each had 15 kills for Loyola. Matt Douglas had 19 digs. Ryan Moss led No. 2-seeded Corona del Mar with 17 kills.

Boehle will be seeking his sixth Division 1 title.

Last season, Huntington Beach defeated Loyola in the Division 1 final and the Southern California Regional final in memorable matches.

Huntington Beach won its semifinal with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-15 win over Redondo.