The Corona del Mar boys volleyball team returned to the court Tuesday with a clean slate, but the Sea Kings might have still had their minds on their heartbreaking, five-set loss to Loyola of Los Angeles on Saturday in the CIF-SS Division 1 final.
“We felt like one of the best things we could do was try and get out there and play a little bit, help us maybe forget (about the loss),” CdM coach Steve Conti said. “At this point, we have to move on. We can’t carry this thing into the state tournament like maybe we were tonight.
“We just didn’t seem like we played with the same energy that we’ve had the last couple of weeks.”
CdM did enough to defeat visiting Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 25-13, in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division I playoffs.
Sam Kobrine led CdM (29-6) with 17 kills. Will Hunter had 12 kills with five blocks. Matt Ctvrtlik had seven blocks and 33 assists.
“It was a tough loss (to Loyola),” Hunter said. “We were pretty eager to come back, and hopefully we will see them again (in the regional final) Saturday.”
Before CdM can look too far ahead, it has to deal with Pacific Coast League rival Beckman on Thursday in the regional semifinals. Beckman, which lost both regular-season matches toCdM in three sets, defeated Buchanan of Clovis in five sets Tuesday.
“We’re not going to be overconfident,” Hunter said. “We know they’re a powerful team. They made it this far and made it to the semis in both regionals and CIF. We know they’re going to be fired up to play us.”
The Dons (22-11) were runners-up in the San Diego Section playoffs, losing to Carlsbad in three sets.
CdM was able to regroup quickly after dropping the third set and grabbed a 13-7 lead in the fourth.
Also in Division I:
Beckman 3, Buchanan of Clovis 2: The visiting Patriots (33-6) trailed 14-10 in the fifth set, but rallied to win 16-14. The complete score was 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 16-14. The Patriots lost in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals to Loyola.
In Division III:
Saddleback Valley Christian 3, Sage Creek of Carlsbad 0: The top-seeded Warriors (35-3) rolled to a 25-9, 25-17, 25-15 victory at home. SVC will host El Camino of Oceanside in the next round. El Camino defeated Crean Lutheran, 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, on Tuesday.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
