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    Corona del Mar boys volleyball sweeps Mater Dei in Division 1 playoffs
    • April 30, 2026

    NEWPORT BEACH — Corona del Mar’s impressive rally in the second set Wednesday showed how good the Sea Kings’ boys volleyball team can be.

    They will need to be that good, or better, in a few days.

    Corona del Mar swept Mater Dei, 25-16, 25-21, 25-14, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs at Corona del Mar High.

    The Sea Kings put together a big comeback in the second set. They trailed, 16-8, before outscoring the Monarchs, 17-5, to get the win.

    The Sea Kings (26-5) will play at Huntington Beach (22-4) in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

    Huntington Beach is one of four teams in Division 1 that had a first-round bye. The others were Loyola, Mira Costa and Redondo Union. The Southern Section placed 12 teams in the 16-berth Division 1 bracket.

    Corona del Mar and Huntington Beach are thoroughly familiar with each other. They split their two Sunset League matches. Corona del Mar swept the Oilers at Corona del Mar on March 4, and Huntington Beach, the league champion, beat the second-place Sea Kings in four sets at Huntington Beach on March 27.

    Sea Kings senior outside hitters Ben Brown and Hunter Hannemann had 10 kills each. Senior opposite hitter Brady Gant added seven kills and junior middle blocker Daniel Booker had six. Senior setter Drake Foley delivered 21 assists.

    Mater Dei finishes the season 25-15-3 overall and finished in second place in the Trinity League.

    The match Wednesday had several big battles at the net, as well the athletic digs and the high-velocity kills and serves that are common to CIF-SS Division 1 volleyball.

    Corona del Mar pulled away early from Mater Dei on the way to a 25-16 win in the first set.

    The second set was much more challenging for the Sea Kings.

    Led by junior Jeremiah Potasi, who was converted to outside hitter from setter, Mater Dei dominated as it built a 16-8 lead in the second set. Corona del Mar senior middle Jack Robinson provided key kills and blocks and Hanneman was a kill machine down the stretch as the Sea Kings won the set, 25-21.

    Brown credited the Monarchs for their inspired play in the early going of the second set.

    “We just had to calm down,” Brown said. “Their coach and their team did a great job of putting pressure on us.”

    Corona del Mar was in control of the third set from the start. The Sea Kings finished strong, scoring the set’s final seven points.

    “Our first set, we were pretty efficient,” Sea Kings coach Katey Thompson said of her team. “Then we got caught up in the chaos and had to dig ourselves out and fortunately we approached it point by point. It’s definitely not the best we’ve played, but hopefully we’ll play our best on Tuesday.”

     

     Orange County Register 

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