Damien boys volleyball falls in state playoff opener

The season finally came to an end for the Damien boys volleyball team.

The Spartans (26-7), who won a CIF Southern Section title in Division 5, were dealt a 3-0 loss (25-17, 25-15, 25-18) by Corona del Mar in the first match of the Southern California Region of the state playoffs.

The Spartans were seeded eighth and played in Division 5 all season while Corona del Mar was the top seed and came out of Division 1 so Damien coach Randy Bohlmann thought his team held its own.

“We came out and really competed,” said Bohlmann, whose school has had a team for just five years and had never been past the quarterfinal until this season. “They’re a very, very good team and it was fun to play against a team of that level.”

Chris Jorritsma had 10 kills and a block while Chris Mercado added eight kills. Junior libero Nick Hibshman had 16 digs while senior setter Christian Hernandez tallied 28 assists.

Bohlmann thinks his team will now have higher expectations after experiencing a deep run in the playoffs. He currently has 48 players in the program, something few other programs can claim.

“We have a pretty good pipeline now,” he said. “We might not be quite this good but I still think we’re going to be pretty good moving forward.”

 

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