Thursday evening found three Coronado High School sports teams competing in playoff games, or contests with playoff implications. The most exciting of those events was the CHS Girls Volleyball game against Horizon, won by the Islanders 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 25-20 and 15-12.

Volleyball at all levels now employs point-per-play scoring, meaning that for each serve there is a point awarded. No longer do you have to earn the serve via a side-out to score a point. A game must still be won by a margin of two points and at the varsity high school level, a match is won by the first team to win three games. In the event that a fifth and decisive game is needed, that game is played to 15 points. Long gone are the volleyball rules we learned in physical education class in days of yore.

The Coronado gym was rocking as the match was well attended by followers of both teams. The contest was played at a high level, with both teams earning their points rather than benefiting from their opponent’s poor execution.

Islander Head Coach Phil Trotter saw his team respond positively after being down 2 games to 1 to the Panthers. "We came back and played really well at the end. That is something that will be a lasting memory of the season. It was Kelly Phelps’ best match of the year. Caitlin Kennedy also did a great job. She blocked well and played with confidence. She has really developed into being a great player and one who is fun to watch."

Trotter continued his re-cap of the match. "Megan Mushovic is one of the best players to come out of our school. It was nice to see her play so well. All three of the seniors really stood out. I could tell they had a great attitude at the beginning of the game. They took it upon themselves to go out and win a close match. I was really proud of them."

Phelps was credited with 18 kills in the match and Mushovic dished out 56 assists.

The Islander faithful also played a role in the victory, according to Trotter. "The crowd was the difference that night. If we hadn’t played at home, I don’t know if we would have pulled it out. It was a great crowd."

Next on the playoff schedule is No. 1 seed Francis Parker, ranked No. 2 in San Diego County, behind Division I powerhouse Torrey Pines. The game is slated for Tuesday at 7 pm at Francis Parker.

"We’ll have our hands full," said Trotter of the Lancers. "Our goal going into the match is to bring out the best in them. If they make us play our best match of the year and we fall short, it will still be a good result. It’s a ‘no lose’ situation for us. We’ll go out there and do our best."

Earlier that same evening, the Islander Boys Water Polo Team began their pursuit of the CIF Division II title with a 20-4 victory over Serra High School. The score was 14-1 in favor of the home standing and No. 2 seeded Islanders at halftime.

The Axelson Conversation Quotient Theory, which states that number and volume of spectator conversations at a Coronado water polo game, is directly proportional to the lead enjoyed by Coronado at any given time, was in full force and effect. I was guilty participant myself as the Islanders were scoring at a goal-a-minute pace and encountered little opposition.

Junior Jackson Crow-Mickle, who normally is a field player, wound up playing in goal during the second half in place of Patrick Queisser, who was ill. Sophomore Kyle Pokorny worked the first half between the pipes and allowed only one Conquistador score. Sophomore C.J. Kerr was moved up from the JV for his first varsity game and scored a goal. Sean Castillo, John Landon and Jacob Smith all scored four goals each.

Things were a little closer in Saturday’s quarter-final game against Valhalla. The game was played at La Jolla High School’s Cogan Family Pool, and the Islanders knocked off the Norsemen 11-3. Castillo scored five goals, with six players including Steven Sullivan, Joe Moffitt, Devin Farrell, Eric Clapper, Preston Lujan, and Daniel Pedrotty scoring one goal each. Sean Cook was credited with four assists. Queisser returned to action and snared five saves, while Pokorny stopped four shots on goal.

Head Coach Randy Burgess thought he received a good effort from his team. "It was a nice result. I think we played well and were able to play some kids who hadn’t had a chance to play a lot. Both Jesse Farquhar and Landon were out due to illness. Hopefully they will be healthy for Wednesday. We re-established ourselves defensively and we did it without a couple of guys who would normally start. The bench stepped right in and contributed."

Wednesday the Islanders return to La Jolla High School, to face La Jolla High School in a game scheduled for 7:30 pm. Or as Burgess put it, "we’re playing at their home pool as our neutral site for the semi-finals." Coronado was victorious in the first two meetings between the teams, winning at home 13-8 and 10-6 at La Jolla. The four remaining teams in Division II play are all from the Western League. Bishop’s will play University City in the other semi-final at 5:45 pm. The winners of the semi-final games will play Saturday evening at 7:30 pm, again at La Jolla High School.

The Central League football title game came down to Madison invading Coronado Thursday evening and the Warhawks came away with the 27-15 victory.

Coronado started the scoring on a 2-yard run by Ricardo Oberwager. Madison countered with a 10-yard scamper by Brandon Grimsley, who would go on to gain 180 yards on 25 carries and score three touchdowns.

Islander running back Kelcey Fisher, who rushed for 104 yards for the game, converted on a 32-yard field goal attempt to give the Islanders a 9-7 lead at halftime. Madison scored the next three touchdowns before Coronado quarterback David Loving found tight end J.J. Pontes for a two-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Although Coronado came up short on the scoreboard, the effort was there until the conclusion of the game, which pleased Head Coach Bud Mayfield. "We played very hard, but in a couple of key situations, we didn’t play smart. We seldom make penalties and we picked the wrong time to do that. It was close the whole way and very physical. I thought we fought very hard. All of the kids played hard."

Like Trotter earlier the same evening during the girls volleyball match, Mayfield was pleased with the crowd’s reaction. "I thought the crowed was exceptional. We heard everyone cheering right until the end. The town support and the student body support have been great this year. When anybody comes over to our place (for a game), they can’t believe the situation."

Senior Jimmy Gersonde sustained a broken wrist in the game and is out for the balance of the season. Running back Mike Baker-Denson injured his foot missed the majority of the second half of play.

The CIF Division IV Coaches’ seeding meeting was a relatively brisk 15-minute affair, according to Mayfield. Aside from the fact that Coronado will face the defending Division IV champion Valley Center squad Friday, Nov. 25 on the road at 7:30 pm; Mayfield thought the No. 5 seeded Islanders received a fair seed, playing No. 4 seed Valley Center.

The two schools have scrimmaged over the years, but have never faced each other in a regular season or playoff football game. Ironically, Valley Center and Coronado will play each other in a non-conference game at Coronado in 2006.

The coaching staff was awarded the week off and the Islanders will practice three times this week and three days the following week. "I don’t like byes," Mayfield said, "but this one will be useful. It will give us a chance to heal and fill up the well of enthusiasm, I hope. I’m proud of what the kids have accomplished this year. When we went to Hell Week, we couldn’t run three good plays in a row. It’s been a great year."

Head Cross Country Coach George Green checks in with a report on last week’s Central League Championships. "Five Islander runners made the Central League’s ‘All League’ list Wednesday at the conference finals. Both the Boys and Girls teams ran the 3-mile City Conference course at Morley Field.

Ben Enowitz, Michael Davies and David Grimes made the Top 10 cutoff for All-League honors by placing second, third and seventh respectively, with times of 16:58, 17:26, and 18:02. Jose Tijerina was 13^th in 18:25, followed by Andrew Falkiewicz (20^th in 18:51), Cotter Stacy (21^st in 18:59), Ben Green (28^th), Jack McMahon (36^th), and Ross Palmer (43^rd).

The Girls All-League finishers were Karolin Ivarsson, who placed seventh with a time of 22:27 and Sheila Braun who placed ninth in 22:39. Marissa Nagler just missed in 11^th, with a time of 22:56, followed by Allison Cabana (12^th), Helen Luppi (21^st), Sammie Runyon (24^th) and Brigid Twomey (26^th)."

Saturday the Islanders will compete in the CIF Division IV championships at Morley Field. The Girls race will be held at 9:05 am, and the Boys will run at 10:10 am.

The CHS Girls Tennis Team’s season ended last week in the Western League championships. Head Coach Robbin Adair provides coverage of the event. "Jen Carney and Spencer Berman had a protracted doubles set, before losing to the No. 6 seed. Alli Gordon played will against the No. 8 seed. The doubles team of Hayley Kitzmiller and Alicia Ruiz lost 8-6 in a pro (scoring) set."

Next week, we’ll have the team award winners from the Girls Tennis program.

Saturday, Nov. 19 from 2:30 to 4 pm, the CHS Girls Basketball Teams will be holding their annual Free Throw Shoot-A-Thon at the Blumenthal Sports Complex. Each member of the JV and Varsity teams will be shooting 100 free throws to raise money to travel to San Francisco for the West Coast Jamboree to be held Dec. 28-31, 2005.

Donations can be made one of two ways. The first is a direct financial contribution to the program. The second is to pledge a dollar amount for each free throw made by one of the players. To guide your philanthropic efforts, keep in mind that the varsity completed 54 per cent of their free throws in games last season. The goal for each of the 12 varsity members is to raise $250 for their trip expenses.

If you would like more information on how to donate to the Free Throw Shoot-A-Thon, please contact Head Coach Toler Goodwin at 619-282-4888 or Assistant Coach Dave Willey at 437-4463.

This would also be a good time to remind you about the annual Girls Thanksgiving Tournament which will be held Friday Nov. 25 and Saturday Nov. 26 at Coronado High School. A total of 10 teams will compete in the event this year, with Coronado playing in the five-team ‘A’ bracket which includes OLP, Imperial, San Dieguito, and Southwest. Pool ‘B’ consists of Serra, Christian, H-Town, Chula Vista and Cathedral Catholic.

Coronado’s Friday schedule is: Imperial at 12:40 pm and San Dieguito at 4 pm. The Saturday games are against Southwest at 12:40 pm and OLP at 4 pm.

Congratulations to Coronado’s Mary Ellen Rogers, a member of the Coronado Longboard Surf Club, for winning the recent Women’s World Longboard Surfing Championships in the Masters Division. Also competing were Lori Martin, Darcie Nixon, Carolyn Mitchell and Megan Stanley. The event was held at the Ocean Beach Pier.

Rogers worked her way through the qualifying heats and found herself tied with Mary Schwinn of Malibu for first place in the finals, with 30 seconds remaining in the competition. Neither surfer caught a wave in the allotted time and the scoring reverted to a "count back" with the winner being the rider of the highest scoring wave. Rogers won the event on that basis. Congratulations to all of the competitors.