San Clemente crushes Dos Pueblos to start playoffs

SAN CLEMENTE – Jumping out to a fast start in Tuesday’s CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff matchup against Dos Pueblos of Goleta was perhaps more important than at any time this season for San Clemente.

The Tritons were coming off what coach Ken Goldstone called a “heartbreaking” five-set loss to South Coast League champion Dana Hills in their regular-season finale. And a letdown was certainly a possibility.

But after San Clemente scored the first four points of the opening game it was clear the Tritons had put the past behind them. Led by middle blocker Travis Wilson and captain Dominic Lile, the host Tritons swept the Chargers, 25-11, 25-23, 25-14, to advance.

San Clemente (24-6) will play Sunset League champion Newport Harbor in Thursday’s second round. The Sailors defeated Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday in three sets.

“I was hoping that we’d get off and running,” Goldstone said. “I thought that (winning the first game) really picked us up.”

Dos Pueblos (15-12) responded to San Clemente’s resounding start with a 14-6 lead in the second game behind four aces from Keaton Arutian.

However, the Tritons rallied, scoring 13 of the next 18 points to tie the score.

The comeback was capped by Wilson, who powered an attack off the chest of a seemingly helpless Chargers defender near the backline. The shot gave San Clemente their first lead of game two and after the teams exchanged points on consecutive serves, Dos Pueblos eventually caved.

“Sometimes it’s hard when you give up a bunch in a row like that. It’s hard to get your rhythm back,” Goldstone said. “So I thought we did a good job just getting in rhythm again.”

Losing the second game seemed to demoralize the Chargers. And after playing virtually even through the first six points of game three they committed several errors, including two centerline violations, in what turned out to be the closeout game of the match.

With Wilson and junior Dillon Hoffman dominating play around the net, it freed Lile to set things up as the senior finished with 38 assists.

Wilson and Hoffman combined for 16 kills.