Season comes to sudden stop for Los Alamitos
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Volleyball playoffs: The Griffins lose to Loyola after being up two games in quarterfinals.
Los Alamitos had not lost a game in the boys volleyball playoffs, and it was on the verge of sweeping No. 3 seed Loyola of Los Angeles. It was four points away from reaching the CIF-SS Division I semifinals. And then …
“All of a sudden, they started pounding balls through us,” Los Alamitos coach Dave Huber said of the Cubs.
The Cubs rallied from the two-game deficit to beat the host Griffins, 15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-10, in the quarterfinal match Friday.
Loyola (24-4) will play Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach (30-5) in the semifinals Wednesday.
“There's not much you can do when you're down 2-0,” Loyola coach Michael Boehle said. “I just said you need to dig deep because your season is over if you don't.”
In Game 3, the Griffins (23-10) led, 21-15. It wasn't even that close the first two games, as Los Alamitos passed and blocked its way along and Loyola stumbled on one serve after another.
“They beat us pretty bad those two games,” Boehle said.
Boehle said Cubs outside hitter Brian Scilacci spoke up during a timeout late in the third game. He backed it up on the court in Games 4 and 5, and finished with 15 kills. Outside hitter Steven Irvin had 14 kills.
The teams traded leads in Game 4 before Loyola pulled away. The Cubs jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the final game.
“I think we let down a bit, mentally,” Huber said. “They stay focused. We kind of put it in cruise control at the end of Game 3.”
Outside hitter Kyle McElderry had 15 kills, setter Sean Senozan had 45 assists and Andrew Thomason had 17 digs for the Griffins.
Also in Division I:
Santa Margarita 3, Woodbridge 1: Steven Shandrick had 12 kills to lead the Eagles (5-32) past the host Warriors (21-9), 25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-15.
In Division II:
Corona del Mar 3, West Valley 1: Jeff Carlson had 14 kills and seven digs and Dylan Davis and Gus Ellis combined for 19 kills to lead the Sea Kings (26-6) past the host Mustangs (17-2), 25-15, 26-24, 22-25, 25-17.
Dos Pueblos of Goleta 3, Laguna Beach 2: Shawn Merz had 21 kills and Cooper Gwaltney had 14, but the Breakers (19-8) fell short in a comeback bid to the visiting Chargers (23-10), 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 16-25, 15-10.
In Division III:
Loara 3, Santa Monica 1: Derek Rhyne had 15 kills as the Saxons (17-2) beat the No. 1-seeded Vikings (18-14), 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-18.
In Division V:
Brethren Christian 3, Laguna Blanca 2: Ben Hammond had 21 kills and Graham Strong had 14 kills to lead the Warriors (15-4) past the host Owls (14-4), 15-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-12, 15-11.
Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com
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