High Tech High captures first boys volleyball title in program history; LCC wins D1 crown

When High Tech High traveled across the bridge to play former league rival Coronado back in March, the result was a four-set loss that ran its record to 4-3 on the young season.

A lot can happen in two months.

The Storm rose to the occasion in the rematch with a 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17 win over the Islanders in the CIF San Diego Section Division 3 championship on Friday that brought the first CIF championship in program history.

“We developed who we are a team,” Storm coach Noah Ortiguerra said. “We realized that in order to do what we wanted to do, which is a fast offense, we needed to pass better. Every day we worked on first-ball passing.”

The Islanders (24-11) could never get a rhythm going. In fact, they scored more than three consecutive points just twice on the night. Part of that were errors on their part, but the bigger culprit was a consistent sideout game the Storm (16-7) have been working on all season.

One of those four-point runs came early in the first set that merely brought the Islanders to 6-5 while the other came early in set three for a 7-3 lead.

The Storm were able to overcome both short runs.

“We had opportunities to make plays, but we made too many mistakes,” Islanders coach George Cavaco said. “We weren’t successful in this mission, but it’s the journey that makes this fun. Win or lose it’s still a successful journey.”

The two evenly matched teams stayed close in set one. The Storm took the lead at 18-17 on an Isaiah Gutierrez kill. It was their first lead since 2-0, and they wouldn’t go down the rest of the set.

It was 20-20 when the Storm ran off four straight points, the final three of which came on Islanders errors. Gutierrez finished the set with a kill off the block. He finished with a match-high 17 kills and added two blocks.

“It really goes to our setter,” Gutierrez said about fellow senior Kaleb Middleton. “He got to his spot and gave everyone a phenomenal set all night.”

Jawad Aziz chipped in with seven kills, a block and an ace and Severin Stone had six kills and two blocks for the Storm.

Coronado was able to create some distance and then close it out with stronger play in transition in set four. Greyson Glorieux slammed a ball down the line in serve receive to close it out.

Glorieux led the way for the Islanders with 10 kills and two blocks. Opposite Nicholas Redding added eight kills and a block.

“There are no words to describe how this feels,” Gutierrez said. “I couldn’t ask for more. I’m just so proud. There’s not really excitement. It’s just joyful pride in these boys.”

LCC beats Santa Fe Christian for D1 title

Teams that are four matches under .500 aren’t supposed to make noise in CIF.

But La Costa Canyon isn’t like most teams. And the 2024 CIF San Diego Section Division I champions aren’t like those of years past.

The Mavericks used a well-balanced attack to prove records can be deceiving, leaving Southwestern College with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-30 sweep of Santa Fe Christian on Friday.

This was La Costa Canyon’s 16th CIF championship in program history.

“We really started to gel the last few weeks of the season,” Mavericks coach Mark Brubaker said. “Made a few tweaks with the lineup, and it really worked out for us. The guys kept working hard and kept doing what we wanted them to do, which is get better.”

La Costa Canyon (16-19) has one of the area’s top middle blockers in Maddox Brandenburg. And he was dominant with two stuff blocks and five kills against only one error.

But the Mavericks’ pin hitters did more than their fair share of taking control of the match.

Lucas Dale had 11 kills using a variety of shots. Carson Ball is an opposite in a 6-2 offense and can hit all over the court. He also finished with 11 kills and added a block and an ace.

“It all came together tonight,” Ball said. “We had so many good matchups, and all of our options were great. We’ve seen moments all season, especially recently, where we’ve been putting it together and showing we’re hard to beat now.”

The Eagles (20-11) nearly pulled out the second set, staying neck-and-neck until the end. Finley Gilmore had seven of his match-high 15 kills in the set. Brother Felix Gilmore added 10 kills.

But the Eagles were overmatched at the net all night.

“The quick balls they were running to the outside pin, our blockers just weren’t there in time,” Santa Fe Christian coach Billy Perez said. “I don’t think we had a single on-time block on those pins. It was frustrating, especially since we work on blocking so much.”

The Mavericks finished in last place in March’s Best of the West Tournament. This, however, may be one of the most intriguing teams heading into next week’s CIF State Regional Championship.

“There were times in the season that we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” Brubaker said. “But again, as we made a couple tweaks to our lineup that really seemed to help. About four weeks ago, the coaches started seeing what we hoped we would see at the beginning. We’re playing well at the right time.”