Laguna Blanca advanced to the CIF Division 5 boys volleyball semifinals for the second straight year with a dominating performance at Ontario Christian on Saturday.
The third-seeded Owls were able to play everyone in a 25-10, 25-9, 22-25, 25-9 quarterfinal win and get the seniors back to Santa Barbara in time to attend their prom.
The victory sets up a semifinal match-up against No. 2 Arrowhead Christian on Wednesday night in Redlands. The teams met last month in Hope Ranch and Arrowhead Christian beat an undermanned Laguna team in four sets.
“If we can play defense like we played defense today, we should be alright,” Laguna coach Dillan Bennett said.
The Owls romped through the first two sets. They were up 10-0 in the second set before Bennett put in his second setter. He cleared the bench for the third set.
“We’re a team,” Bennett said. “I wanted everyone to play. We were down 16-6 in the third set and came back and tied the score at 22. It was a great comeback and the guys really did a nice job.”
Jack Copeland led the Owls with 10 kills on 15 attempts, had two blocks and two aces. Ryan Bickett added six kills on 13 attempts, picked up nine digs and served a pair of aces. Pierce O’Donnell paced the defense with 20 digs. Connor Curran had a six-point serving run in the third set.
Laguna Blanca (21-7) is looking to make the CIF Finals for the first time in program history. It lost a five-set match at Garden Grove in last year’s semifinals.
