Dos Pueblos

Coach Aaron Chaney sported a lei. He was in no Hawaiian mood to celebrate Saturday night. The Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo team lost in the CIF Southern Section Division I final for the second straight year. This time, the No. 1-seeded Sea Kings fell to No. 2 Dos Pueblos, 3-2, at Irvine High. CdM (29-2) had its chances to beat the Chargers (28-3) for the third time this season. With 12 seconds left, the Sea Kings had the ball, but never got a shot off. Dos Pueblos, the defending Division II champ, broke the Sea Kings’ hearts, ending their 15-game wining streak.

IRVINE — The sky began to clear up and a parent in the stands told Corona del Mar High Coach Aaron Chaney, “You can smile now.” Chaney’s face never cracked. The Sea Kings made history at the Irvine Southern California Championships on Saturday, winning the 14th annual girls’ water polo tournament for the first time. CdM made sure not to finish runner-up for a tournament record fifth time. In doing so, the Sea Kings beat Dos Pueblos, 8-7, in the final, getting revenge on the top-ranked program in the CIF Southern Section Division I poll.

GOLETA — There’s one stop the Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team makes when it travels to Santa Barbara to play volleyball. The players can’t get enough of an Italian restaurant that serves greasy garlic balls. Coach Dan Glenn sets a limit for how many each player can eat before a match. “We can only have three balls per visit,” Katey Thompson said. The Sailors can devour as many as they want after what they pulled off at Dos Pueblos of Goleta Tuesday night.

For a photo gallery, click here. NEWPORT BEACH — Star goalie Sami Hill says that when she plays road games she likes to silence the crowd. It sure seemed rather quiet at Newport Harbor High after the senior’s peformance Thursday, when Dos Pueblos of Goleta won the Holiday Cup. Hill’s 17 saves silenced the Sailors, who lost, 7-4, in the championship game. She said she was happy the Chargers earned the title in her final year at Dos Pueblos before going on to UCLA.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — With his Newport Harbor High team gone, Coach Dan Glenn stuck around to watch more girls’ volleyball. Another semifinal match was underway at the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament Saturday. Before the third and decisive game against Santa Barbara, Orange Lutheran Coach Mark Laulhere walked over to Glenn. “Did you guys win?” Laulhere said. “No,” Glenn said. But Glenn stayed around to pull for Orange Lutheran.

NEWPORT BEACH — The student cheering section at Newport Harbor High taunted Haleigh Hampton every time she stepped to the service line Saturday night. Hampton did her best to ignore the chants, which included “Shaq.” It’s expected when you’re 6-foot-6. But Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn devised a much more effective plan to take away the Huntington Beach High middle blocker in the CIF State Division I Southern California Regional semifinal, which ended with the Sailors sweeping, 25-16, 25-19, 25-15.

GOLETA - The first time the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team played Dos Pueblos this year, the Sea Kings snapped the Chargers' 68-game winning streak. Another streak was on the line when the teams met Friday night. Dos Pueblos had won the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions three years in a row. In its home pool, Dos Pueblos wasn't going to go down without a fight. Turns out, neither was Corona del Mar. The third-seeded Sea Kings owned the fourth quarter to knock off the Chargers, 7-6, at Dos Pueblos High.

CORONA DEL MAR - On the day of the season opener against Dos Pueblos, Corona del Mar High girls' water polo Coach Sam Bailey received a text message. The sender was the man Bailey replaced as CdM coach, Aaron Chaney. The message wished Bailey good luck against Dos Pueblos. It also told him to remind reporters that the Sea Kings - then coached by Chaney - were the last team to beat the Chargers nearly three years ago. "No pressure, right?" Bailey said, smiling, after Friday's game.

Is there a better way to spoil a team’s undefeated campaign than in the championship game? The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team has the opportunity to ruin the perfect season Dos Pueblos of Goleta has turned in so far. The Sailors are up for the challenge. The second-seeded Sailors (25-5) face the top-seeded Chargers (30-0) in the CIF Southern Section Division I title game tonight at 6:30 at Irvine High. “I think we’re looking forward to seeing Dos Pueblos, just because we’ve never beaten [the Chargers]

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions SANTA BARBARA - Corona del Mar High won twice at Santa Barbara High, advancing to Saturday's semifinals. The Sea Kings defeated Clovis West, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19. They then topped Dos Pueblos in a quarterfinal match, 15-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18. "We showed some resiliency," Coach Steve Conti said in a telephone interview of the Dos Pueblos match. "We switched some things around with our lineup a little bit, and maintained a high level for the last three games.

CORONA DEL MAR - Big leads slipped away the last two times the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team played Dos Pueblos of Goleta. The Sea Kings won both, including the season opener Dec. 7 by a goal. But that wasn't the way they wanted to finish games, nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So when CdM met Dos Pueblos again Friday in a Holiday Cup quarterfinal, it provided an opportunity. "I think they had a bit of a chip on their shoulder, wanting to put four quarters together rather than just two," CdM Coach Sam Bailey said.

Leave Genevieve Weed open at your own risk. Weed, a junior defender, is not senior teammates Pippa Saunders and Diana Murphy. She is not even junior classmates Cassidy Papa and Ally McCormick, players who have scored dozens of goals this year for the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team. She plays a different role for the Sea Kings. Still, opponents need to be careful with leaving her open. Weed has shown this season that she can score from the outside. The latest victim on Feb. 18 was three-time defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Dos Pueblos.

GOLETA - For the second time this season, a Corona del Mar High girls' water polo game came down to a fraction of a second at the end of regulation. Dos Pueblos senior Kodi Hill, who had led the Chargers' stirring second-half rally, was a split-second away from ending it all Saturday. Not just the game, but the Sea Kings' season. She was a blink of the eye from shocking top-seeded CdM and keeping alive Dos Pueblos' quest for a fourth straight CIF Southern Section Division 1 title.

IRVINE - The Newport Harbor High girls' water polo team made a bit of a statement Friday night at Woollett Aquatics Center. Sure, opposing teams can try to drop off the Sailors' perimeter players and focus on emerging center Elissia Schilling. But they do so at their own risk. Newport consistently made Dos Pueblos pay for using such a strategy in the quarterfinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships. The Sailors' collective outside shot was on the mark in a 14-11 victory over the defending tournament champions.

GOLETA - The first time the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team played Dos Pueblos this year, the Sea Kings snapped the Chargers' 68-game winning streak. Another streak was on the line when the teams met Friday night. Dos Pueblos had won the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions three years in a row. In its home pool, Dos Pueblos wasn't going to go down without a fight. Turns out, neither was Corona del Mar. The third-seeded Sea Kings owned the fourth quarter to knock off the Chargers, 7-6, at Dos Pueblos High.

CORONA DEL MAR - On the day of the season opener against Dos Pueblos, Corona del Mar High girls' water polo Coach Sam Bailey received a text message. The sender was the man Bailey replaced as CdM coach, Aaron Chaney. The message wished Bailey good luck against Dos Pueblos. It also told him to remind reporters that the Sea Kings - then coached by Chaney - were the last team to beat the Chargers nearly three years ago. "No pressure, right?" Bailey said, smiling, after Friday's game.

The national club championships begin next weekend, when the ball drops on the boys' Junior Olympics in Orange County. As far as high school teams go, though, the tournament of the summer is this weekend - also in Orange County. The Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high school girls' water polo teams, as well as the Newport Harbor boys, will be participating in the California State High School Championships beginning Friday. CdM's girls, the runners up last year, are seeded third.