CdM boys’ volleyball sweeps Edison to begin CIF Division 1 playoffs
Corona del Mar came out ablaze to start the CIF Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoffs Wednesday night, grabbing a quick advantage on Edison and pulling away in a lopsided first set behind its big, revered hitters.
Easy night? At first, perhaps, but the Sea Kings’ straight-sets triumph in a Division 1 pool play opener required a lot of grit and a little soul searching, leaving them with a bit of work to do and the belief that the toil could lead to good things.
Fourth-seeded Corona del Mar rode youth national-teamers George Bruening and Sterling Foley to a 25-13, 26-24, 25-17 victory in the Pool A clash, but the visiting Chargers, a surprising Division 1 qualifier widely considered overmatched in the battle of Sunset Conference rivals, set the narrative most of the way.
Edison (19-9), the last of eight teams invited to the top-tier title hunt, found some passion after its initial stumble and followed talismanic opposite Brandon Peacock’s lead to put up a real fight. The Chargers forged early leads in the last two sets, nearly pulling out the second and sticking around in the third until their hosts’ quality prevailed.
“Edison did a fantastic job of adjusting and kind of flipping what they were doing,” Corona del Mar head coach Katey Thompson said. “[Peacock] kind of tore us apart in that second set. That took a lot of battling on our side, of trying to figure it out, and having the boys directly apply it. ...
“We played ugly volleyball. We got the win out of it, but one of the hardest things to do is [win when you] play ugly volleyball. We’re going to get back in the gym and try to clean things up.”
Corona del Mar (19-8) has at least two more games — at home Tuesday against No. 5 Beckman (29-5) and at No. 1 Los Angeles Loyola (23-1) the following Saturday.
Edison plays at Loyola, then at Beckman — and the group winner heads to the May 13 final.
The Sea Kings started very strong, taking a 5-1 lead on junior setter Ryan Gant’s service, steadily building upon it, then finishing with an 11-4 run from net dominance by Bruening, a 6-foot-9 senior opposite, Foley, a 6-5 junior outside hitter, and senior middle blockers Cade Alacano and Kaden Kavanaugh.
“We’ve been struggling starting with energy this whole season, and we’ve made that a big point in the past couple of weeks, just getting out with a lot more momentum,” said Bruening, who is headed to UC Santa Barbara. “That really came into effect tonight, and part of it was being really ready to go and Edison might not have been as much. But they definitely showed it in the second set, that they were just as ready.”
Edison responded behind Peacock — an “emotional” leader, per head coach Elias Perez — who popped up nearly everywhere, ripping holes through CdM’s defense, often from the back row, en route to 12 kills, 11 in the last two sets. The Chargers led for early swaths of both, never by more than three points, falling in the second on a Foley tip and Alacano block, and in the third after 7-1 and 6-1 Sea Kings runs.
“Corona del Mar’s a great team,” Perez said. “I’m glad that we are able to stick with them in a lot of those tough ways. I loved the way we played in the second set, and we kind of pushed them to their limit.”
Peacock forced the Sea Kings to alter their defense, which had been focused on 6-6 middle blocker Emerson Evans, and they struggled to figure him out.
“He doesn’t really tip,” said Foley, who had 14 kills. “He’s good at hitting high hands, and he hits line and angle. He doesn’t just hit one way. There’s no pattern to him. He’s unpredictable.”
Bruening (12 kills) called Peacock, whom he’s played alongside with Balboa Bay Volleyball Club’s national titlists, “a firecracker. As soon as he gets it going, it’s hard to slow him down.” It took time.
“We didn’t adjust as quickly as I wish we would have,” Thompson said, “but we did end up adjusting and we were able to kind of dig our way out of it.”
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