CdM sweeps Tigers

WILDOMAR — Just like the rib cage of junior opposite Morgan Boukather, everything was in its proper place for the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team Saturday night.

Boukather said she played with two ribs “knocked out of place” Tuesday in the Sea Kings’ CIF State Division II first-round playoff win.

But thanks to a visit to the chiropractor, some physical therapy and a pre-match tape job, Boukather, just like the entire CdM offense, was in perfect alignment in a three-game thumping of host Elsinore High.

The 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 blitz put CdM (30-6) into the Southern California Regional final Tuesday at Redlands East Valley. It’s a rematch of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA final won by Redlands East Valley on Nov. 21.

The Wildcats also beat the Sea Kings in the section final and regional title match in 2008.

Boukather had five of her nine kills in the opening set, when the Sea Kings pulled away and asserted firm command.

The 6-foot-1 Boukather added a team-best three aces and two block assists to clearly sparkle for the visitors, the No. 6 seed in the eight-team Southern California bracket.

“Morgan is a great player,” CdM Co-Coach Darryl Gan said. “She’s a junior and she’s going to be an amazing player later on. But she has been huge all year for us.”

Boukather said it was nice to be pain free.

“It hurt to breathe,” she said of the injury sustained before the first-round match, but played nonetheless.

Little that No. 3-seeded Elsinore did seemed to hurt the Sea Kings, whose solid ball control allowed them to exploit the middle and display their now-trademark offensive balance.

Claire Ham, a 6-2 junior middle blocker, and 5-11 senior middle Amanda Nickel also finished with nine kills.

Meanwhile, senior outside hitter Sydney Brombal had six kills and added strong passing. Mary McKennon, a 5-9 sophomore outside hitter, chipped in five kills and four digs, while junior libero Katelyn Baker had a team-high 11 digs.

Senior setter Madie Smith, bound for the University of San Diego, masterfully kept opposing blockers guessing on her way to 30 assists. She added seven digs, two kills and two block assists.

Junior Catherine Sullivan chipped in four digs off the bench.

“I’ve talked about a balanced offense a lot, and when we’re sharp, we’re balanced,” Gan said. “And when we’re balanced, we’re hard to stop.”

CdM made things even more difficult on the Tigers (31-3) by mixing up its shot selection. Though effective when taking full swings, the Sea Kings used tips and roll shots to drop more than a dozen balls into the vulnerable geographic center of the Elsinore defense.

“We have girls who have played for a long time and they have the ability to read the defense and figure out where the holes are,” Gan said. “It makes [the coaches’] job a little bit easier.”

It might have been easy to look ahead to the potential rematch with Redlands East Valley. But CdM’s ability to avoid just that impressed Gan.

“It’s nice to see their focus get better and better, as we get closer to our next match,” Gan said. “I thought Elsinore played really well. I just thought we were maybe a little bit sharper tonight.”

Even so, Gan said he was surprised about the sweep.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Elsinore [the Southern Section Division II-A champion that had won 31 of its previous 32 matches and split two best-of-three tournament contests with Redlands East Valley] is a great team. [The Tigers] are coached well and they have girls who know how to play that I’ve seen in club [programs] before. I’m glad [about the sweep]. We were definitely sharper tonight than we have been our last couple of matches. I just hope we continue down that road.”

Boukather said her team’s ability to focus, after an hour-long bus ride and in the midst of a large, spirited crowd that outnumbered CdM fans about six to one, was the key.

“We just really came to play and we had really good energy throughout the entire match,” Boukather said. “We just played our best. I think if we play like this [against Redlands East Valley], we will win.”