Boys volleyball: Sailors sweep past Valencia

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - After an 11-day layoff, the Newport Harbor High

boys volleyball team showed signs of rust, but still managed to sweep

past visiting Valencia, 15-3, 15-13, 15-4, in the second round of the CIF

Southern Section Division III playoffs Tuesday night.

“We made a few too many mistakes out there, but considering the

layoff, I was fairly pleased with how we played tonight,” Newport Coach

Dan Glenn said. “We’ve been practicing very hard, but you can only

simulate so much in practice. This match allowed us to get out there and

compete again.”

Senior Christian Berg-Hansen led the top-seeded Sailors (12-7) with

eight kills, while junior Morgan Craig added seven and senior Blake

Tippett chipped in six. Junior setter Loyd Wright paced the offense with

36 assists.

Newport put the Orange League champion Tigers (13-6) on their heels

early with a ferocious onslaught, jumping out to an 8-0 lead five minutes

into the contest.

Junior Erik Peterson had two kills during that run, but it was the

Tigers’ unforced errors which did the most damage.

“The only difference between this match and the others we’ve played is

that we’re on the other side of the 5 freeway,” Valencia Coach Eric

Kramer shouted to his team during an early timeout.

Kramer’s levity seemed to work as the Tigers scored three of the next

four points, but Berg-Hansen’s strong play, combined with three

additional Valencia miscues closed out Game 1.

“We had a great start to the match, which always helps,” Glenn said.

“We managed to get on a little roll, but Valencia’s a pretty good team

and very well coached.”

Glenn’s compliments best described the Tigers’ strong play in Game 2,

jumping out to a 4-0 lead, thanks in part to three Newport violations.

Valencia’s lead was 6-3 before Newport regrouped and ran off five

straight points to grab the lead, 8-6.

The Tigers refused to go away. They went on a 7-2 run and were only

two points away from knotting the match at a game apiece. Chris Franklin

led Valencia with seven kills.

But Newport settled down and let its CIF experience take over. Kills

by Greg Perrine and Tippett, a block by Peterson and two errant hits by

Valencia helped the Sailors rally for the win and a 2-0 advantage in

games.

“We made way too many unforced errors in that second game, so we’ll

have to make some corrections,” Glenn said. “This is a game based on

momentum and Valencia had it for a while in Game 2.”

There was no momentum to be had for the Tigers in Game 3, however.

Newport took a 3-2 lead before ripping off 10 straight points, thanks

again to hesitant playing and errant kill attempts by Valencia.

Despite the huge deficit, the Tigers managed five sideouts and a

couple of points before the Sailors ended the contest. A Valencia error

followed by a kill by Craig ended the 56-minute match.

“Any time you play against teams you’re not familiar with, it’s a

priority to focus on your own team instead of worrying about the other

team,” Glenn said. “We’ve got some things to improve on in practice and

whoever we play, we’re going to have to play at a higher level. We’re

just excited to be playing playoff volleyball.”

The Sailors will play Dos Pueblos/El Dorado Friday night at 7.