Hayden Shanafelt | Sports Editor
March 20, 2026
In a thrilling match against the Tesoro Titans, the Tritons pulled out the win. A heated league rivalry in the competitive South Coast League came down to the fourth set. Coming into the season, the Tritons seem to be in a rebuilding phase after losing key seniors; with only one remaining senior, the team’s foundation is built on its younger players. That being said, the team may be young, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t making a name for themselves, ranking 25th in CIF Southern Section and starting the league off with wins against Beckman and Mission Viejo.
This team has also been the last to play in our historic San Clemente High School gym. Say goodbye to the sticky floors and the low ceilings, and hello to the even smaller Auxiliary Gym. Despite their minor technicalities the program has things figured out and is still able to host home matches while giving all 3 levels an opportunity to play. Being able to play on one’s home court is a huge advantage for teams, especially during league matches where things can get heated in the crowd.
During Thursday’s game against the Titans, the Tritons took hold of the first two sets, holding a 25-20 lead in the first set and 25-22 in the second set, while the Titans took the third set in a close 25-22. A key player and junior on this year’s squad, Cam Kosolcharoen, who recently announced his commitment to UC San Diego, commented on how “this was an important league game against a top competitor, everyone stepped up and contributed to get the win.”
Despite dropping the third set, the Tritons didn’t slow them down. They started out fast paced, putting the pressure on their opponents, and were up 21-16 halfway through the set. Another player that really shined last night was junior Connor Bemus, who killed it on the outside. He put a lot of pressure on the defense with his line shots and his steady passing; especially deep into the fourth set, we saw a lot of swings out of him. Yet, with an out of rotation call and a double on the Tritons, they began to lose momentum. This brought the score to 23-21, letting the Titans slip back into the game and really testing the Tritons’ ability to finish.
Despite those momentum changing referee calls, Kosolcharoen responded with a power angle kill and junior setter Jackson Branch closed out the match with a serve to zone 6, leading to Tesoro hitting an error putting the Tritons up with a final score of 25-21. This Triton upset over the competitive Titans puts them in a position to be 3-0 in league. Head Coach Justin Diblasio mentioned how a “progress mindset and mentality ” is a driving factor for pushing through the rest of their league opponents and by “continuing to translate the things [they] do in practice into games” will help them get that league title.
This is just the beginning of the league season and it will be interesting to follow our Tritons in their journey to competing for the South Coast League title.
Leave a Reply