On Saturday, May 4, San Clemente senior Kai Schmidt (Stanford University signee) hit three aces as the Tritons defeated El Dorado in the CIF-SS Division 3 boys volleyball semifinals. (Photo courtesy of Michael Huntley)
SAN CLEMENTE — The last time the San Clemente boys volleyball team competed in the CIF-SS championship match, none of the players on the current team were born.
San Clemente defeated El Dorado 25-20, 25-17, 25-16 at home Saturday in the Division 3 semifinals to advance to its first championship game since 2003.
The Tritons (26-6) last won a CIF championship in 1976. In 2003, San Clemente lost to Loyola in the Division 1 final.
“I'm always thinking about CIF and I want to have that culture in this program,” San Clemente coach Justin de Blasio said. “We're grateful to finally be here. It's been a long time and there's been a lot of work, but we still have work to do.”
Last season was San Clemente's first losing season in several years since at least 2000.
“I think we're all very focused and focused after last year's season,” San Clemente senior Kai Schmidt said. “I think everyone knew we needed to get it done this year.”
San Clemente has won 13 straight games, 10 of which were clean. The Tritons have lost just three sets during the winning streak.
El Dorado (29-6) is the Crestview League champion and entered Saturday with seven straight wins, six of which were sweeps. The Golden Hawks advanced to the Division 4 championship game last season.
“We knew coming into the game that this was going to be a big game,” El Dorado coach Britt Brown said. “A lot of credit to San Clemente. They brought it, and we brought it too, and I'm so proud of my team.”
San Clemente will face St. Margaret's in the championship game on Saturday, May 11th at a venue to be determined.
This will be the third straight championship game for the St. Margarets, who lost in the Division 3 championship game in 2023.
Serving and passing were the keys to San Clemente's success against El Dorado. The Tritons had seven aces, and junior setter Jetty Precho spread the ball well to create big swings.
“We're always trying to get him to move the ball and let hitters know they're one-fifth of the offense,” de Blasio said. “He has so many weapons that it makes it very difficult for other teams to scout us. They don't know where the ball is going to go.”
San Clemente doesn't have a single hitter with impressive stats, but instead has a balanced offense with multiple players recording five or more kills.
Junior Jack Roper (Stanford) led San Clemente in kills. Marcus Kosolcharon and Pepperdine signee Will Whidden also had five or more kills.
Schmidt, who signed with Stanford University, had three aces and was effective around the net.
El Dorado features outside hitter Max Smith, who entered Saturday with Orange County's second-most kills (383) this season. San Clemente's length and athleticism at the net made it difficult for El Dorado to score. Smith's 13 kills were the lowest total during the playoffs.
“We kind of knew he was going to be their go-to option, so we focused on that,” de Blasio said. “We had high hands. I don't think he's ever seen that level of physicality on any team he's ever played against, so that worked to our advantage.”
“We knew they were going to be big,” Brown said. “We had a game plan, and I think we wanted it so much that we held back a little bit because we were afraid of making a mistake.”
For El Dorado, Trent Chaffin had six kills and setter Ryan Chia had 33 assists.
De Blasio likes the way his team is playing and the way they attack El Dorado.
“We're back to a competitive mindset,” de Blasio said. “Rather than waiting for the other team to give up, we were the ones who came up with our own game plan, won serve and pass battles, and showed physicality. That’s an unusual combination in high school, but that’s what we did. It worked well for me.”