Skacel, Eagles Fly to a Title

Marcus Skacel, a 6-foot-5 senior who has signed with Stanford, had 37 kills and 25 digs to lead Santa Margarita High past Mira Costa, 15-11, 14-16, 15-6, 15-6, in the boys’ Southern Section Division I volleyball final Saturday at Cypress College.

“I can understand why Stanford recruited him,” said Mira Costa Coach Mike Cook, whose teams have won three section titles. “[Skacel] dominated the game. If they didn’t have him, we had a chance. But we couldn’t stop him.”

Santa Margarita (18-3) won its first Division I title and second consecutive section title. Santa Margarita defeated Santa Barbara to win the Division II title last season.

It was the sixth appearance in a major division final for fourth-seeded Mira Costa (25-4), which won its most recent title in 1996, defeating Capistrano Valley.

Second-seeded Santa Margarita, which finished second in the Sea View League, didn’t get its rematch with top-seeded Newport Harbor because the Sailors lost to Mira Costa in the semifinals. Newport Harbor defeated Santa Margarita twice during the regular season.

Santa Margarita middle blocker Matt Zierhut continued to sparkle in the postseason and finished with 13 kills, four blocks and 10 digs. Adam Breault, Skacel’s beach volleyball partner, had 10 kills and 13 digs for the Eagles.

Dustin Avol had 17 kills and Jonathan Palacios had 13 kills and four blocks for Mira Costa.

In the Division II final, fourth-seeded Dos Pueblos won its first section title by defeating unseeded Tustin, 15-2, 16-14, 14-16, 15-8. Dan Hoefer, a 6-7 outside hitter who has signed with Pacific, had 32 kills and sophomore Allan Mount had 11 blocks for the Chargers (19-5).

Junior Kevin Kowalski had 28 kills for Tustin (16-5), which played in its first final since it won the Division II title in 1995.

In the Division III final, top-seeded Corona del Mar erased eight match points in the fourth game to extend the match, then needed nine match points in the fifth game before it finally beat three-time defending champion Santa Ynez, 5-15, 15-8, 12-15, 16-14, 15-13.

Junior middle blocker Dennis Alshuler had 26 kills and four blocks and fellow team co-captain Greg Burden had 13 kills and 39 digs for the Sea Kings (15-5), who won their first section title since 1989.