Newport Harbor advance to second round

Joseph Boo

NEWPORT BEACH - Unfortunately for Los Alamitos High’s girls

volleyball team, its win Monday night in the wild card of the CIF

Southern Section Division I playoffs earned it a date at Newport Harbor.

The Sailors (29-2), ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA and gunning for an

unprecedented third consecutive CIF championship, promptly processed the

Griffins (13-9) in the first-round match like Steve Buscemi in “Fargo,”

winning, 15-6, 15-4, 15-6, and will duel San Gabriel Thursday night at a

site to be determined by coin flip today. While first-round matches are

usually easy for No. 1 seeds, Newport Harbor’s interest in the playoffs

was piqued like Homer Simpson in a donut shop.

An excited Sailors’ squad made sure Los Alamitos was at a disadvantage

from the outset, racing to a 10-0 lead in the first game, and 5-0 in the

second.

“The kids played well and we jumped out at the start,” Newport Harbor

Coach Dan Glenn said. “It’s important in the playoffs to to jump out

early.”

Newport Harbor led early by unleashing senior April Ross. It was

painfully obvious for Los Alamitos that it didn’t have an answer for

Ross. Her dominance is simply expressed in the statistics; 17 kills, five

assists, 10 digs and two aces.

Ross spiked the ball for the very first point of the match, and it was

pretty much over for the Griffins. She had four kills in a 10-0 Newport

run, and the Sailors coasted to the 15-6 victory.

The second game was more of the same as Ross had six kills and Jennifer

Sandro served two aces en route to a 15-4 win.

Los Alamitos contributed to its rough start with some tentative play and

mistakes.

“We have a little bit more experience in the playoffs than other teams,”

Glenn said. “So that’s an advantage for us.”

Los Alamitos relaxed and recovered a little bit in the third game, and

hung around with some gutsy defense and the hitting of Jaclyn Owens.

The game was tied, 5-5, when Krista Dill put the Sailors up with a kill.

After a sideout, Brenda Waterman and Andrea Schutz got kills and Sandro

served another ace to push the lead up. Though Los Alamitos managed six

sideouts, it found itself down, 14-5.

After scoring one more point, Los Alamitos finally fell when it hit the

ball into the net.

Sophomore Katie King, who is the only starter on the team without

previous playoff experience, had 29 assists in her first postseason

match. Junior Heather Cullen had nine kills.

And on a night when the nine seniors were honored, they all came through

with key moments. Erin Haller and Waterman each had six kills and Dill

had seven digs and two blocks. Sandro had three aces, Shannon Backus one,

and Signe Hillyard, Lisa Addeo and Schutz all contributed with some big

plays

“All the seniors got to play and they did a nice job,” Glenn said. “I’m

really happy about that.”

The senior-laden Sailors seems intent on taking memorable moments with

them before moving on. And a historic third CIF title would certainly be

memorable.