North's Boys, Girls Win All-Star Volleyball Games

For Robbie McKnight and Alek Burk of Laguna Beach, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and a bushel full of hardware.

First, there was a tough four-game loss to Corona del Mar in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Championship. Then last week, the Breakers won their third consecutive CIF Division 3 Regional Championship with a five-game victory over Francis Parker of San Diego

And finally on Friday, McKnight and Burk added an All-Star game victory to their resumes for the 2011 season after a 25-19, 25-18 win over the South in the Dave Mohs Memorial 34th Annual Orange County High School Volleyball All-Star Game at Newport Harbor High.

Asked how he felt after his 35th match of the season, McKnight, a 6-foot-3 opposite hitter, was both reflective and appreciative of his four years at Laguna Beach, during which he never lost a league game and helped bring four CIF titles to the school.

“I feel a little sad in a way, but it’s been a great four years,” said McKnight, who will be attending USC in the fall. “I was a little rusty [at setter] and we only had one practice, so it was kind of tough. But this was a great way to end it. Winning CIF and then playing with all these great players, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

The North team was composed of players representing Edison, Servite, Fountain Valley, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei, Esperanza and Newport Harbor high schools. The coaches were Adam Cutrell of Mater Dei and Issac Owens of Esperanza.

The South had players from Mission Viejo, Trabuco Hills, El Toro, Beckman, Santa Margarita and Corona del Mar high schools. The coaches were Steve Conti of Corona del Mar and Bryan Cottriel of Santa Margarita.

On Friday, McKnight played more than half the game at setter, a position he played for the first time this season; he was the Breakers' setter last season. The senior finished with six assists, but he had plenty of weapons on his side to set up.

Cody Caldwell (Newport Harbor/Loyola of Chicago) led all players with 10 kills, followed by Zach La Cavera (Mater Dei/UC Irvine), who was the Orange County Register's Player of the Year, with three kills and two aces. Brian Beith (Esperanza/Hawaii) added four kills and John Henry (Mater Dei/Long Beach State) had three kills and three blocks to pace the North.

Caldwell was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

“It felt awesome to play with all these great players in our last game,” Caldwell said. “We’re with them all the time anyway on club teams, but I was glad to see everybody here. We joked around at the beginning, but once the game started we got serious. We wanted to go out with a win.”

The North grabbed an early lead in Game 1 and stretched it to 15-11 following a kill by La Cavera and a block by setter Dominic Lile (San Clemente/Hawaii). The South cut its deficit to one on a kill shot by Ryan Hardy (El Toro/Pepperdine), but the North won six of the next eight points and a kill by Caldwell gave his team a 1-0 lead.

In Game 2, the South led 10-8 lead when the North again rallied to take the lead on consecutive blocks by Henry and Danny Pestolesi (Edison/Irvine Valley College). They stretched it to 17-13 on a kill by Caldwell, and the lead stayed that way until Henry blocked a shot and the South committed a service error to end the match.

“It was kind of hard, especially as a setter and with only one practice, to get our timing down,” said South setter Taylor Hammond (Santa Margarita/Penn St.), who finished with seven assists. “[But] it was fun playing with some of the best volleyball players in Orange County.”

For the South, Hardy led with four kills and one block, followed by Brennan Anderson (Corona del Mar/Ohio State) and Matt Marsh (Mission Viejo/Pepperdine) with three kills each, and Spencer Haly (Corona del Mar/Stanford) with two kills.

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Morgan Boukather celebrated her 18th birthday party Friday evening with 26 of her peers from the 2010 girl’s volleyball season. But if the Corona del Mar opposite hitter could have had one more wish, she might have wanted her last swing back.

Boukather’s kill attempt on a set from Chanel Stewart (Laguna Beach/UC Irvine) sailed past the end line for match point, giving the North team a 23-25, 25-19, 15-13 victory over the South in the Dave Mohs Memorial 34th Annual Orange County High School Volleyball All-Star Game at Newport Harbor High.

“That last point just killed me,” groaned the Stanford-bound Boukather, who finished with six kills, two blocks, an ace and a bouquet of balloons after the game. “I really wanted to win that game, but it was pretty fun playing with a new team.”

The North was composed of players representing Esperanza, Huntington Beach, Mater Dei, Troy, Orange Lutheran, Edison, Valencia, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor high schools. Its coach was Crystal Day of Troy.

The South had players from Mission Viejo, Northwood, Laguna Beach, Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Trabuco Hills and Corona del Mar high schools. Its coach was Lance Stewart of Laguna Beach.

The North was led by Hallie Amaro (Los Alamitos/Arizona), who finished with a match-high seven kills, three in the third game, and was named Most Valuable Player of the match. Amaro was everywhere for the North, accounting for most of the big points at the end of all three games.

In Game 1, Amaro's two kills brought the North to within one twice, 23-22 and 24-23, before Boukather took a set from Allie Dibernardo (Santa Margarita/Villanova) and converted the kill shot to give the South the victory.

In Game 2, the North jumped to a 14-8 lead before the South closed to within one, 19-18. But the North scored five of the next six points, setting up a kill shot on one by Amaro to close out the game and tie the score.

In Game 3, the teams went back and forth with neither leading by more than two until Amaro's last kill shot gave the North the lead for good, 13-12, as the South misfired on its last two shot attempts.

For the North, Shaq Torres (Orange Lutheran/Arizona) finished with six kills and Casey Hinger (Valencia/Cal State Northridge) added five kills and three blocks.

For the South, Molly Yoder (San Clemente/UC Irvine) and Hailey Senske (Corona del Mar/Texas) each finished with five kills, Verleea Hardaway (Mission Viejo, Washington State) had three kills and Bea Lope (Trabuco Hills/Portland) two kills.

Complete boys game story to follow. Stay tuned!