McKnight returns, keeps Laguna Beach's title hopes alive
LAGUNA BEACH – On Tuesday night, an injured Robbie McKnight watched from the sideline as Laguna Beach’s boys volleyball team defeated Vistamar of El Segundo to advance to the Division III CIF Southern California Regional semifinals.
“I had an MRI on Monday and saw a doctor on Tuesday,” McKnight said about his injured knee. “They said it was not torn and it was not going to get any worse, so I said I was going to play because I didn’t want to let my team down.”
And the senior opposite did not disappoint.
McKnight drilled home 40 kills to lead the Breakers past Valley Christian of Cerritos, 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21, in a highly competitive seminfinal match Thursday evening at Laguna Beach High.
The Breakers (22-11), who are the two-time defending Division 3 CIF Southern California Regional Champions, will play Francis Parker of San Diego on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Irvine Valley College.
“A three-peat would really be something,” McKnight said following the win. “Not many people can do that. It’s a bummer we didn’t win the CIF championship, but we are using this as extra motivation.”
Valley Christian (30-5) proved to be more than just a simple test for Laguna Beach. Winners of the CIF-SS Division 3 title, the Crusaders entered Thursday night’s contest having claimed their last nine matches, winning 27 of 29 sets over that stretch.
Despite trailing for the entirety of the first set, the Crusaders stole the first game after several defensive lapses from the Breakers.
“Defensively we worked hard tonight,” said Laguna Beach coach Lance Stewart. “But a fly that’s flying against a window trying to get out is working hard too. And we were that fly tonight. We were working hard, but we weren’t smart.
"They hurt us on things we knew were coming.”
Laguna Beach rebounded to take the second game, but needed a comeback to claim the pivotal third set.
With the game tied at 22, McKnight delivered two straight kills, giving the Breakers a 24-22 advantage. Setter Jack Winn then blocked Valley Christian’s Kyle Pollema to give the Breakers a 2-1 advantage.
“When two good teams are playing, the difference is generally two to three points,” Stewart said. “You got to make plays at the beginning to separate, or plays at the end to finish matches. We didn’t make enough simple plays during the sets to separate, and that’s why all those games were so close.”
Laguna Beach never trailed in the fourth set and started getting contributions from its other outside hitters. Alex Burk and Austin Hillemann both finished with seven kills.
It was McKnight who delivered the knockout punch, sending Laguna Beach to its third consecutive regional final with his 40th kill of the night.
“When our outsides aren’t real big, and if our setting isn’t real consistent, it’s nice to have a player that you can throw the ball up to that’s going to put it away most of the time,” Stewart said of McKnight.
Valley Christian head coach Rob Samuelson said McKnight, who has signed with USC, was simply too talented to be contained.
“We knew where they were going,” Samuelson said. “We were putting our best guys in front of him and we just couldn’t stop him. He’s just that good.”
