Sea Kings Win Regional Volleyball Opener

You could tell by the looks on the faces of the players from Westview of San Diego as they watched Corona del Mar's boys volleyball team warm up Tuesday night, just how tall a task they were facing in the first round of the 2011 Southern California Regional Division 2 playoffs.

With seven players 6 feet 3 or taller, the Sea Kings showed they were just as an imposing presence on the court as well as, cruising to a 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 victory over the outmanned Wolverines (33-5).

“I thought we did a good job of taking care of business tonight.” Corona del Mar coach Steve Conti said. “This was an extremely scrappy team that we played. They won 33 matches and the CIF title in San Diego for a reason. I think that our overall size just overwhelmed them and wore them down."

Junior outside hitter Parker Brown led the second-seeded Sea Kings with a match-high 18 kills, including a game-high six kills in the first game and a
game-high eight in the final game to go along with two aces.

“I was feeling good tonight,” Brown said. “It was just one of those nights for me. We have so many weapons, and tonight it was my turn to step up.”

The Sea Kings (27-4) are a team that most college coaches would love to have. In fact, five players are committed to play Division 1 sports next year and each played a major part in Tuesday's victory.

Seniors Nick Curcie (UC Santa Barbara) had 22 digs and 15 assists, Evan
Dean (Pepperdine) got five kills and four blocks, Chip Zucker
(Wisconsin) had nine digs and eight assists, Spencer Haly (Stanford)
tallied seven kills and six blocks, and Brennan Anderson recorded seven
kills and three blocks for the Sea Kings.

“This has been one hell of group to coach, “ Conti said. “It’s been special because these guys all work as hard as any players I have ever had in my time of coaching and they deserve all the success they get.”

Corona del Mar won its seventh title in the program’s history Saturday, and its first since 2007, with a four game victory over Laguna Beach.

The Sea Kings will have one of their toughest matches of the year when they play host to Division 1 runner-up Santa Margarita (33-4) on Thursday at 7 p.m.

“We will certainly need to pick up our level of play and energy," Conti said. "We’re thankful that we get to host the game here. In the CIF playoffs we were able to pick up our level of play, and that’s exactly what we’re going to need to do in regionals if we want to be successful.”