SANTA ANA – There was some good and some bad, but in the end, the Mater Dei boys volleyball team will take its Trinity League victory over rival Servite and look to build off of it.
The fourth-ranked Monarchs had a balanced attack, led by Brandon Hicks’ 11 kills, to defeat the visiting Friars, 25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 25-18.
It was the 17th consecutive league victory for the Monarchs (15-2, 2-0).
“I think we did well,” Mater Dei’s Denny Kouri said. “Servite is our rival and I think we came out and executed and fought hard.”
The Monarchs needed that fight in the first set. The Friars had an 11-7 lead, but Mater Dei’s Garrett Zolg got a serving streak and the Monarchs went on a 6-0 run. The set would be tied on three different occasions after that, but Mater Dei never trailed.
After a relative easy second set, the Monarchs became a bit unsteady a bit in the third set and Servite capitalized. After Mater Dei fought off a couple of set point attempts to catch Servite at 24-24, Garrett Halsey connected on consecutive kills to give the Friars some life.
“We tend to stop focusing (at times),” Kouri said. “If you saw, we killed them in the second set and then we lost focus in the third set. We had someone sub in for the wrong person, so I think focusing on just executing our game and that will help us.”
The Friars have been capable of extending their matches to five sets this season, but the Monarchs regrouped to end the match in four.
Halsey led the Friars with 17 kills. Ryan Saltzman added 12.
“I think we’re right there,” Servite coach Matt Marrujo said. “I think we need to pass a little bit better and keep us in system a little bit more so we can establish our middles. I think If we’re in system, they just can’t commit on Garrett (Halsey) and we can open some other things up.
“For us, our serving and passing game has to be a little bit stronger.”
Aside from Hicks’ 11 kills, the Monarchs received a 10-kill night from Joe Brown and Kouri and eight from Joey Storbeck and seven from Zolg.
“Overall, I think we have a lot to work and a lot to improve on, which is good to see moving forward,” Mater Dei coach Pat Connolly said. “The missed serves and some of the hitting errors hurt us, especially in that third set. Credit to Servite, this a rivalry match, records don’t matter and they’re going to be tough and well-coached.”
The teams will meet again April 12 at Servite.
In the Sunset League
No. 6 Huntington Beach 3, Los Alamitos 1: Mitchell Bollinger led the Oilers (15-6, 2-0) with 17 kills and Noah Franklin had 15 in a 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22 road victory.
Grant Guinasso had 16 digs.
No. 3 Edison 3, Fountain Valley 1: The Chargers (xx) bounced back from their loss to Huntington Beach this week and defeated the host Chargers, 20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21.
Kyle McCauley led the Chargers with 18 kills and Joe Leas had 12. Setter Corey Taylor had 57 assists.
Contact the reporter: dcalhoun@scng.com
