No denying Sea Kings

Steve Virgen

While the Corona del Mar High girls volleyball team celebrated and

posed for pictures, Sea King Coach Bill Christiansen paused before

speaking, took a look at his squad and produced a wide grin.

“Maybe it was our time,” he said.

It was their time, indeed.

Corona del Mar, which has lost in the semifinals of the CIF

playoffs the past five years, broke through the CIF Southern Section

Division III-A semifinals with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 victory over

host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame Tuesday.

The Sea Kings will face top-seeded Bishop Montgomery in the CIF

Division III-A title match Friday or Saturday at Cypress College.

Corona’s victory also seemed fateful, and redeeming, for senior

Lindsey Ensign who delivered a match-high 16 kills. Last year, Ensign

was out with a kidney infection and missed the quarterfinals and

CdM’s semifinal loss to Harvard-Westlake.

But there was no holding her back this season.

“All season long I was ready for the playoffs,” said Ensign, who

collected 15 digs. “I didn’t want to let my team go down.”

Ensign was a threat throughout every game and Notre Dame had no

answer. When the Sea Kings weren’t going to Ensign, they also had

junior Jordan Smith and senior Lauren Snell to depend on. Snell, who

Christiansen said had the best game of her career, recorded 11 kills

and Smith had seven. Snell also provided two aces.

“This feels awesome,” Snell said moments after she slammed the

match-ending kill. “It’s my fourth year and we had been going to the

semifinals every year and losing. But we all came together.”

The Sea Kings (21-8), the No. 2 seed, pulled away from a 15-15 tie

in the first game. The victory seemed pivotal, as CdM never

relinquished the momentum and fed off Notre Dame’s crowd.

“Our goal was to keep them quiet,” Ensign said.

In Game Two, the Sea Kings silenced the Knights (18-7) with sound ball control and relentless pressure at the net. CdM pulled away from

a 17-14 lead by outscoring Notre Dame, 8-4, as Ensign ended the game

after finishing an assist from Bill, the team’s senior setter.

“We had a team meeting before this match,” said Bill, who had 36

assists. “We all wanted it. We weren’t gong to let anything stop us.”

Christiansen relayed a simple, yet motivational message before the

match.

“I told the girls they need to restore the Corona del Mar

tradition,” he said. “What I liked the best about this match is that

they combined composure with a real fighting spirit. We knew [the

Knights] would have balance and they weren’t going to make a lot of

mistakes. They’re a good team.”

While CdM had experience in the CIF semifinals, the Knights could

be better known as rookies. Tuesday night was their first appearance

in a CIF semifinal.

“[The Sea Kings] were just a lot bigger than us,” Notre Dame Coach

Shannon Tuttle said. “And, we definitely could not stop [Ensign]. But

it’s been a huge season for us. My team fought and scored three

points on their match point.”

Mackenzie Conover’s serving broke the final game open for CdM. The

Sea King senior served for five straight points, as CdM broke away

from a 3-3 tie, to lead, 8-3. The Sea Kings won two long rallies that

both ended on Notre Dame errors.

Ensign and Smith recorded a kill each in the run, and one of

Conover’s serves caught the net and landed for an ace.

However, the Knights were able to come back and eventually cut the

deficit, 11-10. Then CdM went on a 4-1 run, which prompted a Notre

Dame timeout. Yet, the Sea Kings continued to score and kept

attacking until the Knights had to use their final timeout.

CdM senior Victoria Rice recorded a kill for a 20-15 lead that

gave serve to the Sea Kings. Notre Dame committed an error and Tuttle

signaled for a timeout.

Afterward, Smith served for three more points, two coming from

Knight errors and one coming from a Britta Nielsen kill that gave CdM

match point.