Mission Viejo reverses trend, tops San Clemente
The San Clemente boys volleyball team always has been a thorn in the side of Mission Viejo.
However, Thursday night, the ninth-ranked Diablos showed they might be ready to reverse that trend, with their 27-25, 25-18, 25-21 South Coast League home victory over the eighth-ranked Tritons (11-4, 2-1).
The Diablos (8-9, 2-1) are tied for second in league with San Clemente, one game behind first-place Dana Hills.
The teams will meet again May 3 at San Clemente.
"This is pretty big," Mission Viejo senior opposite Matt Marsh said. "This is our third time beating them in like nine years."
Marsh led the Diablos with 24 kills.
The teams met March18 at the Orange County Championships with the Diablos winning, 18-25, 25-21, 15-13, in a best-of-3 format.
That experience aided the Diablos this time.
The Diablos trailed, 19-16, in the first game but rallied to tie at 20-20.
With the score 25-25, the Diablos again showed their resolve, rallying for the next two points for the victory.
"For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, we played with a little bit of confidence against San Clemente," Mission Viejo coach Gus Culver said. "Winning the first game helped."
The Diablos carried the momentum into the next two games on the way to clinching the sweep.
"Tough way to play our first tough match of the league season against these guys," San Clemente coach Ken Goldstone said. "I expect all our guys to play hard and I don't know why we didn't.
"I know No. 17 (Marsh) was really good, but we should still be able to fight and complete with them, and we didn't do that."
Also in the South Coast League:
No. 6 Dana Hills 3, Laguna Hills 0: Bryce Yould's 10 kills helped the host Dolphins (14-7, 3-0) win, 25-13, 25-15, 25-20.
In the Trinity League:
No. 1 Santa Margarita 3, Orange Lutheran 0: Spencer Buckley led the Eagles (16-2, 1-0) with 17 kills and seven blocks in the 25-14, 25-20, 25-16 home victory.
Ryan Baine added seven kills for the Eagles, and Taylor Hammond had 34 assists. Chad Morris led the Lancers with eight kills.
In the Sea View League:
El Toro 3, San Juan Hills 2: Ryan Hardy, Zach Gugert and Andrew McKellips all had 14 kills and Stephen Tinen added 13 to help the host Chargers (11-2, 3-0) to the 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 15-10 victory.
In the Orange Coast League:
Laguna Beach 3, Calvary Chapel 0: Robbie McKnight led the host Breakers (10-10, 3-0) with 17 kills in the 25-11, 25-17, 25-12 victory.
McKnight also had six blocks and nine digs.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
