Upsets shake up first day of O.C. Championships
South Coast League teams dominate while the county's top two teams are knocked off.
With the South Coast League boys volleyball teams leading the way, Friday's pool-play action at the Orange County Championships was filled with upsets.
The South Coast finished 7-1 for the day, led by No. 10 San Clemente's stunning two-game victory over the county's top-ranked team and overall No. 1 seed, Esperanza, 25-23, 25-23. It included Mission Viejo's shocker over No. 2 Santa Margarita in three games, 19-25, 25-18, 16-14, and Dana Hills' two-game surprise against No. 5 Orange Lutheran, 25-22, 27-25.
Tesoro was the only South Coast team to lose, falling against No. 4 Huntington Beach. The Titans followed that up with a victory over Mater Dei.
"You have to play well in this tournament to get attention," San Clemente coach Ken Goldstone said. "It was nice to see us passing like that today, and it was nice to see the intensity and focus. We didn't give up easy points."
San Clemente defeated Foothill in its second pool-play match to clinch a spot in Saturday's gold-bracket draw. Joining the Tritons from Pool 1 is No. 9 Laguna Beach, which also upset Esperanza, 21-25, 25-21, 15-13, to knock the Aztecs into the silver bracket.
Esperanza isn't the only highly-ranked team left out. Second-ranked Santa Margarita lost once more, to Edison, and also will miss the gold-bracket draw.
The Diablos and Chargers are the other teams to clinch spots.
In Pool 3, Dana Hills went 2-0, while Newport Harbor and Orange Lutheran are 1-1. The Lancers defeated the Sailors. Newport Harbor and Dana Hills play Saturday morning.
In another upset, Mater Dei beat No. 5 Corona del Mar, 22-25, 25-19, 15-9, in Pool 4 play. The Sea Kings then lost to Huntington Beach to fall to 0-2. Corona del Mar faces Tesoro on Saturday morning.
"I think it's indicative of how evenly matched the county is right now," said Goldstone of the upsets.
In Division 2 action, Woodbridge was the only county team to win both its pool matches. The Warriors defeated Sage Hills, 25-18, 25-16, and Arcadia, 25-16, 25-23.
