Tesoro assistant volleyball coach Patrick Eaton said his team’s players talked about winning the program’s first outright South Coast League title during the entire summer leading up to this year.
Next summer they can talk about claiming their second title, as the No. 8 Titans bested No. 5 San Clemente, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21, at Tesoro on Thursday night to clinch sole possession of the league championship.
“It’s only taken 10 years for us to get it,” Eaton said with a laugh. “I’ve said it before: We’re mature, (we’re) tough, we’ve got a chip on our shoulder and the guys just wanted it so bad.”
The Titans (25-5, 7-1) jumped to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set behind two aces from Zach Krufka and two kills from Cameron Kavoosi. San Clemente, which had won 10 straight matches, fought back to tie the set at 14.
With a raucous home crowd behind them, Tesoro outscored the Tritons, 11-7, the rest of the way to seal the victory.
“It was going to be our ability to be tough and stop (San Clemente) on runs because we knew they were going to come after us,” Eaton said.
Cody McLaughlin led Tesoro with 18 kills and Connor Lyons added 14, including five in the final set.
“(Winning league) means everything,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve been dreaming about this since we were freshmen. It’s crazy.”
Jess Hunt led San Clemente (17-8, 6-2) with 18 kills and Dillon Waikle had five blocks – three in a four-point stretch late in the final set.
“We just didn’t make plays at the net that we normally make,” Tritons coach Ken Goldstone said.
“We’re going to get ready for CIF (playoffs). We’re going to go as the second-place team. We’re playing really well right now, so we’ll be OK.”
The CIF-SS boys volleyball playoff pairings will be released May 6.
MATTHEW BAIN,
Contributing reporter
In the Trinity League:
Santa Margarita 3, Servite 2: The Eagles (14-9, 6-3) defeated the host Friars, 25-21, 16-25, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13, to take sole possession of second place with one league match remaining.
In the fifth set, the Eagles led 11-9, but Servite (13-13, 5-4) rallied and took a 13-12 lead on a kill by Matthew Johnson. The Eagles showed their resiliency, scoring the final three points to win the match.
“This was a big match,” Eagles senior outside hitter James Thomas said. “We really wanted this one tonight. We stuck to the game plan, practiced for Servite and really executed well.”
Garrett Rohrer led the Eagles with 13 kills. Thomas and Brandon Lundstrom had 12 and nine, respectively.
Garrett Halsey led Servite with 17 kills. Johnson had 16.
The Eagles conclude the regular season at Orange Lutheran on Tuesday. Servite will be home against JSerra on Monday.
DAMIAN CALHOUN
