Girls volleyball: TARS SWEEP!

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - What a difference 43 days makes.

After losing in four games to Mater Dei High on October 15, the

Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team threw together a near flawless

performance and swept away the Monarchs in the CIF Division I State

Regional Semifinals, 15-7, 16-14, 15-6, Saturday night before a raucous,

standing-room-only crowd in the Sailors’ gym.

“It was a great win for us tonight in front of a great crowd,” Coach

Dan Glenn said. “I’m so fired up right now. It never gets old, that’s for

sure. We should have another great crowd Tuesday.”

Newport Harbor will take on Fresno powerhouse Bullard High (27-2)

Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the comfort of its own Tar Pit, while Bullard must

take the four-hour trek. “It’s so nice knowing whoever we have to play,

they have to come here to play,” Glenn said. “It’s going to be a long

drive from Fresno for Bullard.”

With the win the Sailors have won all seven playoff games with a sweep

and have stretched their winning streak to 18 matches in a row.

For the Monarchs (24-7), it was a case of too many early mistakes and

not enough answers for the Tars’ attack.

“I don’t think the crowd was that big a factor or if we were nervous,”

Monarchs Coach Craig Pazanti said. “We just haven’t been at this level

before and without a doubt, Newport played some unbelievable volleyball

tonight.”

Junior Heather Cullen, playing perhaps one of her top games of the

year, led the Sailors with 13 kills, while April Ross added 10 for the

defending state champion Sailors (35-2).

“Heather has really stepped up her game during the playoffs,” Glenn

said. “She’s gotten better and better the farther we’ve gone.”

Newport took advantage of numerous passing errors by the Monarchs in

game one and turned them into easy points.

After Mater Dei tied the game at 6-6, Newport went on a 7-0 run to

open up a 13-6 lead before winning game one, 15-7. Cullen had six kills

in the opening game.

It was a completely different Monarch team in game two as they

controlled most of game two, taking leads of 8-3, 10-6 and 14-7, until

the Sailors put on a furious comeback.

Ross used her strong jump-serves to put the Monarchs on their heels

and following three-straight service winners from Cullen, Newport came

all the way back from two game points and actually led, 15-14, before

winning game two on a net violation, 16-14.

“It’s crazy. They always seem to take their game to another level when

the other team gets a game point on them,” Glenn said. “I just wish they

would do that BEFORE a game point. One bad break, or net violation or

something and we lose game two.”

Pazanti saw his club lose a golden opportunity to even the match and

take momentum into game three.

“If we win that game, who knows what would have happened,” Pazanti

said. “That’s where Newport’s experience really played a factor.”

After their usual slow start, the Sailors used another big run,

turning a 5-5 tie into a insurmountable 13-5 lead in game three, led by

the strong play of senior Lisa Addeo, who had five kills in the final

game.

“She really had some huge kills for us down the stretch,” Glenn said.

“This second half of the season, she has really played great for us and

I’m happy to see her play so well.”

A Brenda Waterman kill and Ross ace later, Newport won, 15-6 and will

advance to the regional finals.

“When April gets that jump-serve working it really turns the momentum

in our favor,” Glenn said. “She really had it working tonight.”

For the Monarchs, Breegan Mulligan and Lindsay Pavlik, who dominated

the last matchup with the Sailors, were limited to 14 kills combined.

“Last game, they ran off points in bunches on us and tonight, we did a

good job of preventing that,” Glenn said. “The whole team played well

tonight,” Glenn said. “Bullard has one of the top athletic teams we’ve

faced all year so we’ll definitely have our hand full on Tuesday.”

The Sailors played Bullard in the semifinals of the Santa Barbara

Tournament of Champions Oct. 30 and won in three tight games, 15-9,

15-12, 15-11.