Santa Barbara Tournament Of Champions:

Jeff Carlson, Dillon Flinn, and Gus Ellis led the Sea Kings, ranked No. 3 in CIF Division II, with 10 kills each, followed by Dylan Davis, who had six.

Spencer Brown had six digs, and Connor Bannan finished with 33 assists. Carlson also added three aces.

Brown and Flinn were named to the all-tournament team.

The Santa Barbara tournament provides a barometer for teams to scout the volleyball elite right before CIF playoffs, and it gives them a chance to diagnose their own problems.

The Sea Kings found themselves lacking on defense when they made questionable reads on their opponents sets.

“We let a few balls drop on broken plays,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said. “Two guys are literally watching the ball drop. And that’s the frustrating thing. Sometimes, we’ll make the difficult play. The ball gets hit in the corner and we’ll dive and stab that one up. One or two [easy] balls can sometimes change the whole dynamic of a match.”

CdM, undefeated in the Pacific Coast League, has about two weeks left in the regular season to make the necessary tweaks.

CdM is itching for a rematch with the Tigers. There’s a strong possibility that the two teams could meet in the Division II playoffs.

The rivalry between the two schools is ugly enough that the Sea Kings would rather root for Back Bay rival Newport Harbor than Valencia.

“You know, I actually will be rooting for Harbor,” Ellis said after the Sea Kings won the third-place match. “Because I can tell you one thing: At least I have friends on Harbor. And that’s the truth.”

Apparently, the Sailors feel the same way.

But why does everyone hate Valencia so much?

“I think it’s the fact that they’re a super-emotional team,” Peleuses said. “If they get a block, they fly around the court with their arms up and everything. It’s not necessarily bad sportsmanship, but on the opposite side of the court, you just feel like it’s a little bit immature. But they’re a great team, so they can back it up. It would be even worse if they did that and they weren’t able to back it up … We were rooting for [Corona del Mar].”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.