Corona del Mar ends Beckman's run in playoffs

IRVINE - Winning the third game almost seemed like a disadvantage.

The Beckman-Corona del Mar series has yielded nothing but five-game matches this season. So, after the Patriots won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Tuesday, it seemed inevitable that the Sea Kings would answer and grab some of the momentum. As it turned out, they took all of it.

Corona del Mar went up 16-5 in the fourth game and 10-2 in the fifth, paving the way for an easy ending to a hard-fought match. The Sea Kings advanced to this weekend's CIF-SS, Division II-AA finals against top-seeded Redlands East Valley, and earned a berth in the state playoffs, winning 24-26, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 15-9 at Beckman.

After falling in that third game, “I told them that I believe in them, and they had to believe in themselves,” Sea Kings coach Darryl Gan said.

“I think Darryl really inspired us,” junior outside hitter Sydney Brombal said. “We thought about what he said, and then we performed.”

Brombal had 16 kills and 20 digs, senior middle blocker Conley Kipp had 20 kills, Amanda Nickel had 14 kills and Madie Smith had 54 assists.

“When you stop getting wrapped up in everything, and you look around the court and see all these good players around you, you feel assured,” Gan said, praising his team's composure in the final games. “When things start getting a little tough, we can settle, be composed, be mature.”

The Sea Kings, Pacific Coast League champions, return to the finals after taking a year off. In 2006, they lost to Laguna Beach.

Beckman, the league's No. 3 seed, pulled upsets in each of the first three rounds for its best finish in the program's four-year history.

“We were scrappy tonight,” coach Darin McBain said. “We fought for the loose ball. We looked like we wanted to win.”

Star junior Lydia Bai led the Patriots with 26 kills. However, the Sea Kings took away one aspect of her game - the powerful jump serve.

On a majority of Bai's serves, Brombal went down and dug the ball to a setter, who laid it up for a Conley kill.

“I love digging jump serves,” Brombal said. “It's one of my favorite things.”

Said Gan, “Her ball control is amazing.”

Next year, Beckman returns the heavily-recruited Bai and every player who took the court with her Tuesday. More five-game matches with the Sea Kings should be in order.

“They have some amazing players, and they just didn't give up,” Kipp said. “It's really fun to play them.”

In another match:

Santa Margarita 3, Long Beach Wilson 0:The Eagles swept the No. 2 seed Wilson, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23, to earn a I-AA finals berth against the winner of tonight's match between Mira Costa and Los Alamitos.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com