Loyola gets payback on Corona del Mar

If there were two evenly matched high school boys’ volleyball teams this year, they would have to be Corona del Mar and Los Angeles Loyola.

The storied programs met for the second time in eight days on Saturday, and they keep beating each other in the same manner.

One week it’s the Sea Kings sweeping the Cubs, and the next week it’s the Cubs sweeping the Sea Kings.

Loyola got the last say, though.

Seven days after losing in three sets to CdM in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals at Cerritos College, Loyola returned the favor on another neutral court.

The No. 2-seeded Cubs swept No. 1 CdM 25-23, 25-20, 25-19 in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship at Edison High, earning them the top prize for the fourth time.

As for the Sea Kings, they lost in the SoCal Regional Division I finale for the second straight year. And each time it has been via sweep.

The third match between CdM (33-4) and Loyola this year went to the Cubs (30-2). Loyola has dominated the series with CdM since the two schools began playing every year nine years ago, improving to 13-4.

“Sometimes the team that lost the previous one may have a little bit of an emotional edge,” CdM coach Steve Conti said. “It’s hard coming back after [beating Loyola in] the CIF finals [to claim the top division for the first time since 2000], and kind of rebooting a little bit.”

The Sea Kings made their fourth straight appearance in a SoCal Regional final and fifth overall under Conti. And to Conti, he said the energy is never the same on this stage as it is contending for a section crown.

The one match that seemed to matter the most to CdM was the section championship. It made it for the third consecutive time in Division 1, finally getting over the hump after losing to Loyola in 2016 and Huntington Beach in 2015.

For Loyola, it was looking to avenge last week’s section finals setback to CdM, as well as its only other loss this season.

“That’s what motivated us, was the chance that we got to play Oak Park and we got to play CdM again,” said Loyola coach Michael Boehle, whose team beat Oak Park in the SoCal Regional semifinals on Thursday, almost 11 weeks after losing to Oak Park in the semifinals of the Best of the West Invitational in San Diego. “Those are two teams that just beat us. It was nice to be able to come back [and beat them].”

Loyola was able to close out the season on top, winning the SoCal Regional Division I title for the first time in five years, after losing in its previous three trips from 2013 to 2015.

J.P. Reilly, an outside hitter heading to Stanford, led the way for the Cubs, finishing with 14 kills, a .500 hitting percentage, a block assist and three digs. Princeton-bound opposite Brady Wedbush added 11 kills, two service aces, two block assists and six digs.

The opening set saw CdM score two of the first three points, and that would be the last time it led in Game 1.

The first set was tight throughout, Loyola never leading by more than three points. Every time CdM caught the Cubs, Loyola took back the lead. The first time was when Jaxon Drake broke a 10-10 tie with a kill. The next time it was Wedbush giving Loyola a 16-15 lead with a kill. And when CdM scored three straight to even things up at 22-22, the last point on USC-bound outside hitter Clay Dickinson’s block, there was Reilly answering. His fifth kill in Game 1 gave Loyola the lead again.

Dickinson, who totaled 12 kills, one solo block, two block assists and one dig, brought CdM back again. His sixth kill in Game 1 made it 23-23. On the ensuing serve, the Sea Kings committed their third service error. At set point, CdM had another mistake, as Kevin Kobrine’s shot went long.

“We had a couple of unforced errors,” Conti said. “I told our guys that in both of these [championship matches [with Loyola], in some of those close games, the team that’s winning is the team that’s made some plays down the stretch, late in the set. And they did a better of that tonight.”

Kobrine, a junior committed to UCLA, found his shot in Game 2. And he picked a good time with CdM trailing early on.

Kobrine produced three straight kills, and the Sea Kings went ahead 9-8. Kobrine, who had eight kills, two block assists and five digs, wasn’t finished. He teamed up with Jake Meyer (eight kills, four block assists) to turn away a shot, then Kobrine had his fourth kill, and CdM appeared as though it found a rhythm.

The Sea Kings took a 14-10 lead, their biggest all night. Patrick Paragas, who amassed 31 assists, two aces, a kill and eight digs, did his best to spread the ball around, but Loyola wound up getting back in it.

Luke Hardesty, who had 36 assists, moved the ball around, getting Jaxon, Reilly, Penn State-bound outside hitter Will Bantle, Wedbush and UCLA-bound middle blocker Ian Parish involved. The Cubs tied it at 18-18. From there, Loyola sealed Game 2 on a 7-2 run, inching closer to sweeping CdM for the first time in two years.

“It was interesting to see the errors that they had that we had last weekend,” said Boehle, whose team was unable to repeat as the section champion last week because of CdM. “Two evenly coached teams, two very good teams, and we got this one this weekend.”

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