Boys volleyball: Tars heading back to Cypress

Tony Altobelli

REDONDO BEACH - For Newport Harbor High boys volleyball standout

Billy Clayton, history would not repeat itself, not if he had anything to

say about it.

Two years after being swept out of the CIF Southern Section Division I

semifinals by Mira Costa, the Sailors turned the broom the other way and

dusted off the host Mustangs, 15-11, 15-13, 15-12, before a noisy crowd

at Redondo High.

“After what happened here two years ago, I told myself that there was no

way we were going to lose tonight,” Clayton said. “We used that loss as a

sense of motivation and it really paid off for us.”

The win sends the defending Division I champs into a championship rematch

with rival Corona del Mar Saturday night at 7 at Cypress College, the

fourth meeting of the year between the two schools.

“It doesn’t matter to me who we face, we haven’t been successful with

either school,” Coach Dan Glenn said after the match. “I’m just jazzed

that we were able to make it back to the finals again.”

Clayton led the Sailors (17-5) with 27 kills and two solo blocks, while

Dustin Illingworth added nine kills and nine solo blocks.

“Set the ball and give it to Billy,” Glenn said. “We weren’t trying to

fool anyone out there. It isn’t exactly brain surgery with us.”

For Mira Costa (22-7), Jason Spratt had 15 kills, Mike Gevertz added 12

and Ryan McKenzie had 10.

“Newport has a bunch of great athletes over there,” Coach Mike Cook said.

“Billy was a handful, that’s for sure. They just played a more physical

style of volleyball than we did.”

The opening game started rather slowly for both schools, which was a

disadvantage to the Sailors, who trailed, 7-4 early.

“We need to keep moving and moving fast,” Glenn said. “Once we did that,

I thought we had better control of the match.”

Following a Sailors’ timeout, Newport picked up the pace and went on a

9-2 run, forcing numerous mistakes from the Mustangs.

Kent Turner was strong down the stretch in Game 1. He had both of his ace

serves and added a key kill, giving Newport some breathing room.

Finally, an ace from Greg Perrine gave Game 1 to Newport.

“I thought it was huge to get that first game under our belts,” Glenn

said. “Both teams were coming off back-to-back five-game matches and I

wanted to take their crowd out of it, too.”

The Sailors carried their Game 1 momentum into Game 2, taking an 11-4

advantage before the Mustangs mounted a comeback.

Five straight points brought Mira Costa to within two before Brian Gaeta

came up with the crucial point of the game.

With Newport holding serve, a free ball right over the net was up for

grabs. Gaeta not only got to the ball first, but found a small opening

just inside the sideline, giving a crucial point to the Sailors.

Newport stretched the lead to 13-9 before another Mustangs rally tied the

game at 13.

The Sailors remained calm and put the game away, thanks to a Turner kill

and a solo block by Scott Tippett.

“There were a bunch of players who made plays when they had to,” Glenn

said. “That’s what is great about this team, I’m not afraid to put in

anyone at any given time.”

Fighting for survival, the Mustangs jumped out early in Game 3 and took a

commanding 12-4 lead.

But Newport, which had to look back only five days to find an example of

a miracle comeback, ripped off six points in a row to cut the lead to,

12-10.

After Newport regained its serve, Clayton, who had 13 kills in Game 3

alone, gave the Sailors the lead for good on back-to-back finishes.

After a Mustangs error made it, 14-12, Turner and Erik Peterson teamed up

for a block to end it.