Girls volleyball: TARS REPEAT!!

Tony Altobelli

CYPRESS - Stockton’s Lincoln High coach Bret Almazan-Cezar said

before his team hooked up with Newport Harbor in the CIF Division I State

Championships that, “Volleyball is a game of X’s and O’s and their X’s

are a lot bigger than our O’s.”

The Sailors showcased enough X’s to win a year’s worth of tic-tac-doe

games and successfully defended their state title with a three-game sweep

over the Trojans, 15-12, 15-6, 15-7, before a Sailor-heavy crowd at

Cypress College.

“We were really firing on all cylinders tonight,” Coach Dan Glenn

said. “When we’re passing, digging and doing all the little things right,

like we were tonight, I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat us.”

Almazan-Cezar’s agrees.

“They just had too many weapons to defend against,” he said. “We’re

just not big enough to stop so many weapons.”

Newport used all the ammo from all their weapons to dispose the

Trojans in the 80-minute match.

Senior April Ross finished with 18 kills to lead the Sailors (37-2),

but she was definitely not alone in the attack.

Senior Krista Dill had 16 kills and three blocks, junior Heather

Cullen had 12 kills and senior Brenda Waterman added 10 kills and five

digs for the Tars.

With the win, Newport Harbor became only the third Division I team to

win back-to-back titles. The others were Irvine in 1987-88 and Corona del

Mar in 1992-93.

“And for both of those teams, they had to beat us to do it,” Glenn

pointed out. “This was a very tough road, because you know not many teams

have been able to win a second year in a row.”

Despite playing the Trojans in last year’s state championship game,

Glenn didn’t have as much knowledge as he would have liked and that was

evident in game one.

“This was the first team we’ve played in the playoffs that we didn’t

have any videotape on,” Glenn said. “So we had a little trouble starting

off the match, trying to figure out what they were doing. Once we did

that, we were able to concentrate on what we had to do.”

Both teams stayed close to each other on the scoreboard in game one,

before Lincoln (33-6) jumped out to an 11-8 lead, thanks in part to the

strong hitting of Nicole Davis, who finished with a team-high 10 kills.

She will team up with Ross at USC next season.

But from there, just like they’ve been doing all season, Newport found

a way to fight back.

Newport cut the lead to, 12-10, then following a Lincoln timeout,

back-to-back kills by Dill and Waterman tied the game at 12.

From there, an errant Lincoln return and kills from Ross and Cullen

gave Newport the 15-12 decision. Dill, headed for Duke University next

year, had eight kills in that game to lead the Tars.

“I thought we had them in game one,” Almazan-Cezar said. “We were

serving well and passing well and that allowed us to get in our offense.

Once again, they just had too many weapons.”

After a strong 3-0 start in game two for the Trojans, Newport shut

down their offense, while scoring the next six points to take the lead

for good.

Dill, named the game’s Most Valuable Player, was a constant harassment

at the net on both offense and defense for the Sailors.

“Krista, like she has all season, really stepped it up tonight,” Glenn

said. “In our tough games, like most of our seniors, she’s come through

for us.”

Lincoln cut the lead to, 6-5, but the strong jump-serves of Ross

enabled the Sailors to rip off four straight points to lengthen their

lead to 10-5.

“We didn’t pass as well as we did in game one,” Almazan-Cezar said.

“We tried to keep it away from Ross, but she was everywhere out there.

She’s a beach player with great range. We couldn’t keep it out of her

hands, especially with Dill playing so well.”

Lincoln scored again to make it 10-6, before Newport ripped off

another five straight points to close out game two, 15-6.

Game three was all Newport, as the Sailors jumped out to a 9-1 lead on

kills from Cullen, Dill and Ross.

“Our pace just wasn’t fast enough,” University of Connecticut-bound

setter Julie Erbez said of her Trojan team. “We just couldn’t find a way

to pick it up against them.”

Erbez finished with 32 assists, while Sailors sophomore setter Katie

King had 47 assists, good enough for both players to make the

all-tournament team.

“Our setting evolves from our entire game,” Glenn said. “If we’re

setting well, it’s because were digging and ball and passing well. But

Katie really played well tonight and she’s gonna keep getting better.”

With the Sailors up, Glenn brought in seniors Jennifer Sandro, Signe

Hillyard, Erin Haller and Shannon Backus to reward four years of hard

work for the Sailors program.

Lincoln would not go away quietly, cutting the lead to 10-5 and 12-7

before finally running out of time.

“Anyone that saw us play last year or anytime this year knows that we

never give up,” Almazan-Cezar said. “If we have to play for three hours

to finish a game, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Finally, back-to-back kills by Cullen and a stuff-block from Ross

ended game three, 15-7, and gave Newport Harbor its fourth state title,

tying St. Francis of Mountain View for the most in the state.

Other players to make the all-tourney team include Ross and Escobar,

while Erbez and Waterman were given the tournament’s sportsmanship award.

The Sailors’ seventh appearance in the state final tied Corona del Mar

and Stockton’s Linden High for the most all-time.

“This title was much sweeter than last year,” Dill said. “This group

gets along so well and there’s better personalities with this group.”

A long season of hard work, frequent flyer miles and some tough

competition made this trip to the top of the mountain sweeter for Glenn.

“We played in tournaments in Hawaii and Chicago, along with the Dave

Mohs Invitational. Arguably, three of the toughest tournaments in the

country,” Glenn said. “We won two and placed high in the third. Our tough

schedule really made us strong heading into the playoffs and that really

made a difference in the tough matches.”

Almazan-Cezar also dealt with some flying time, just at the wrong

time.

“We were over an hour delayed for our flight Friday and we got to

experience what it’s like to sit on the 405 freeway at 3:30 in the

afternoon,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how much of an advantage it

is, but it sure doesn’t hurt playing a half-hour from your high school.”

For the Sailors, how do you top this next year?

“I know we’ll be competitive,” Glenn said. “It will be impossible to

completely replace nine seniors, but we’ll have some key players coming

back. Plus, our junior varsity and frosh-soph teams each had outstanding

seasons, so we’ll be ready.”