Corona del Mar cruises in opener

Rick Devereux

There were some on the Corona del Mar High girls volleyball team that

felt slighted the squad was the No. 4 seed in the Southern California

regional of the CIF State Division III championships. Many felt the

strength of schedule and CIF Southern Section Division III-A title

should have garnered at least a No. 2, and possibly a No. 1 seed.

Redemption came for CdM in the form of a 25-13, 25-17, 25-19 win

over La Jolla Tuesday night in the opening round of the state

tournament. Corona was never behind in the match.

“I’m not angry with the seeding,” Coach Bill Christiansen said. “I

think [the seeding] made us more determined to win.”

The Sea Kings (26-5), who will travel to top-seeded University of

San Diego on Saturday, put on a clinic of teamwork volleyball in

defeating La Jolla. The defense was rarely caught out of position and

setters Traci Lawson and Kelly Christian distributed assists to 11

different attackers.

“The seedings don’t matter to me,” Lawson said. “It just makes me

want to prove people wrong.”

The Vikings (29-8) did not play poorly. On the contrary, La Jolla

played well, digging multiple shots and giving a valiant effort

throughout the match.

The problem was Corona was able to concentrate its effort on

stopping La Jolla’s two main weapons, outside hitters Alex Kearny and

Lauren Engle.

Kearny, who has been slowed by a hip injury for the past two

matches, was held to just two kills, both in the first game.

Engle had a match-high 10 kills even though the Sea Kings were

able to focus all of their attention on the 5-foot-11 senior.

“We knew that she hit angle a lot,” senior Jordan Smith said. “We

adjusted our defense a little bit, but she is a really good player.”

While the Vikings were left with only one “really good player”

because of Kearney’s injury, CdM had a bench full of really good

players.

“Everybody played extremely well tonight,” Christiansen said. “All

17 of them [played well]. We have a solid team of players, not just a

few individuals. It was a whole team effort.”

The Sea Kings raced out to a 9-4 lead in the first game thanks to

a kills by Lindsey Ensign and Kasey Kipp on overpasses and

consecutive kills by Smith. Corona put the game away when Kelly

Christian hammered home a spike off a perfect back set by Lawson.

In the second game, CdM again took an early lead Smith, who

finished with seven kills, had two service aces to give the Sea Kings

an 11-3 advantage.

Senior Shannon McMenomy spiked down a winner off a Jordan Anae set

and Ensign blocked a La Jolla attack to close out Game 2.

The Vikings kept the third game close, closing to within 16-14,

but then Britta Nielsen slapped down two spikes, followed by a kill

by Ensign and a service ace by Marissa Scott.

Alexine Rodenhuis, a 6-1 junior middle blocker, slammed down a La

Jolla overpass to give CdM a 21-15 lead. Spikes by Erica Solis,

Juliane Piggott and Christian gave the Sea Kings a 24-17 advantage,

but an illegal touch gave La Jolla a point and the serve.

A serve into the net ended the Vikings’ hopes of a comeback.

For CdM, it was redemption to not only prove the seedings wrong

with such a convincing win, but to also make amends for an early exit

from the state tournament last season.

“We lost in the first round [the state playoffs] last year,” said

Smith, who will play for UCLA next year. “We want to win state this

year.”