HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL / Playoffs : Royal’s Victory Is a Holiday Affair

SIMI VALLEY — The blueprints for Royal High’s volleyball match Wednesday night were drawn up on Memorial Day, when most families gather for festive barbecues and picnics.

There was the get-together at Coach Bob Ferguson’s house, which involved video-tape viewing by the Highlanders of their upcoming opponent, Capistrano Valley, and an ensuing practice at the school gymnasium.

The preparation made the match memorable for Royal, which defeated Capistrano Valley, 15-9, 15-11, 15-3, in a Southern Section Division I semifinal at Simi Valley High.

The Highlanders play Esperanza in the final Saturday at Cypress College at 7 p.m.

The most important part of Monday’s practice was when Ferguson took middle blocker Ryan Denihan aside for 25 minutes and gave him two words of advice: Slow down.

Setter John Baxter, working with Denihan, junked the quick set the Highlanders had employed late in the season.

Baxter returned to a slower set for Denihan, farther from the net.

The new approach worked Wednesday for Denihan, who felt he hadn’t played well since the Redondo tournament May 3. He had 11 kills for the second-seeded Highlanders (20-0).

“Finally,” he said. “I think I got really tired of playing bad and figured they’re going to need me to win. What better night to come out [playing well] than this one?”

Mixed in with 15 kills from Nick Flanagan and 14 from Marc Chaffee, the Highlanders were firing and connecting from everywhere.

“They dominated in every way,” said Coach Darren Utterback, whose third-seeded Cougars fell to 18-2. “They were much more mature than us, they worked harder and they played better defensively.

“We were working on fundamentals out there and they were running [intricate] plays.”

Royal’s defense--at the net and in the back row--also hurt Capistrano Valley.

USC-bound Ryan Thurlow had 17 kills in 45 attempts and hit a subpar .133 for the Cougars, and standout junior Beau Rawi had 10 kills and five errors.

An important sequence came midway through the second game, with Royal ahead, 10-6. Denihan partially blocked four attempts in a row by Thurlow, before Chaffee ended the rally with a kill.

That might have laid the foundation for the Highlanders, who went on to take the game on a block by Baxter and stormed to an 8-0 lead in the third.

When the teams faced each other in a grueling playoff game of the early-season Dos Pueblos tournament, Royal emerged victorious after nearly an hour, 16-14.

The entire match this time took 80 minutes. “It’s amazing what we can do if we all play close to our potential,” Chaffee said.