PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Styles Leads Laguna Beach Past El Toro

Laguna Beach and El Toro met Thursday in a nonleague boys’ volleyball match between two of the county’s top teams.

They didn’t disappoint.

Second-ranked Laguna Beach overcame a tough Game 2 loss and a two-games-to-one deficit to defeat eighth-ranked El Toro, 15-10, 13-15, 12-15, 16-14, 15-4, Thursday at El Toro High.

“It was a very special win for us tonight,” Laguna Beach Coach Mike Soylular said. “Any time you can come back to win at this place it’s special.”

Laguna Beach (4-0), led by Dan Styles’ 32 kills, fell behind 8-5 in Game 1 before outscoring El Toro, 10-2, to win.

El Toro (2-5) also had its share of rallies. The Chargers trailed 10-2 in the second game but outscored the Artists, 13-3, to win. The Chargers were led by Steve Hilbert’s 26 kills, Sean Callahan’s 13 blocks and Steve Nelson’s 85 assists. Zack Humphrey had 23 kills for El Toro.

With Game 3 tied, 12-12, Callahan and Steve Hilbert blocked consecutive attempts by Styles to give the Chargers the lead, 14-12. El Toro won on the next play when an Artist missed a spike.

In the fourth game, El Toro was serving for the match, leading 14-12, before the Artists came back to win 16-14. Hitting errors down the stretch were costly for the Chargers.

The Artists took control of the fifth and deciding game, taking a 12-2 lead, before winning 15-4. “That fourth game comeback really gave us a much-needed lift,” Soylular said.