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Mater Dei boys volleyball advances to CIF-SS semifinals with win over Edison

May 8, 2025

Mater Dei’s Joseph McClendon, left, celebrates with Josh Sumbong, right, as the Monarchs defeat Edison in the CIF-SS Division 2 boys volleyball quarterfinal playoff in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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HUNTINGTON BEACH — There weren’t many long scoring runs in the CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinal match between the Mater Dei and Edison boys volleyball teams Wednesday at Edison High School.

While neither team could maintain momentum for significant intervals, the Monarchs put together enough scoring bursts to defeat the Chargers, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19.

Mater Dei (25-12-1) will play St. Francis of La Cañada in the semifinals Saturday at St. Francis High.

Jeremiah Potasi and Dylan Gallagher were the scoring leaders for the Monarchs, finishing with 14 and 13 kills, respectively.

Potasi scored nearly all his points with cross-court kills from the left side.

“For me personally, I was just swinging more deep corner,” Potasi said. “Edison does a good job setting up and a pretty good block, so I was trying to work around the block, going high hands, being smart rather than just going up and just trying to bounce every ball.”

Nathan King had 14 kills and Connor McNally added 11 kills for the Chargers (14-17).

The Monarchs led from the first point and never trailed in the first set. But the second set was arguably the deciding set of the match.

The Chargers led for most of the set but never by more than three points.

Mater Dei’s Beck Schobel served an ace that landed inches inside the back line to make the score 17-17.

Potasi’s kill then gave the Monarchs a one-point lead.

The Monarchs led 23-20 when a block and a kill from King got the Chargers within a point.

Then Potasi’s dump shot and Gallagher’s block clinched the set for Mater Dei.

The third set was similar to the second, with Edison holding on to a slim lead.

But this time, instead of falling behind late, the Chargers hung on to the lead.

Edison led 24-23 and the Monarchs were one point away from forcing overtime.

A kill from Kyle Duffy gave the Chargers the winning point to extend the match to a fourth set.

But in the fourth set, Mater Dei jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed.

While the Chargers tried to fight back, the early setback was too much to overcome.

“We emptied the tank a little bit in the third and then that slow start in the fourth,” Edison coach Eli Perez said. “We had some moments where we were coming back, but when you’re playing a good team like that, four or five points in Division 1 or 2, or Sunset League, that is so hard to come back from. They did good staying consistent and just maintaining that lead.”

Mater Dei boys volleyball advances to CIF-SS semifinals with win over Edison Orange County Register

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Mater Dei boys volleyball advances to CIF-SS semifinals with win over Edison

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