Girls volleyball: Newport loses in three

Amara Aguilar

NEWPORT HARBOR - Think different. That was Newport Harbor High’s

plan going into Tuesday’s nonleague girls volleyball match against

visiting Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in Orange County.

Newport Coach Dan Glenn did a few things differently during the team’s

practice in preparation for the match against the Monarchs, but the

Sailors were defeated, 15-9, 15-5, 15-5.

Although the Sailors (6-3), ranked No. 4 in Orange County, focused on

defense and hitting coverage to prepare for the match against Mater Dei

(15-2), the Monarchs were just too powerful.

Ashley Bayer had 16 kills and Whitney Pavlik had 15 to lead Mater Dei’s offense. Although the score doesn’t reflect it, Newport Harbor also

showed glimpses of offensive power.

The Sailors were led by Alyson Jennings (seven kills, 14 assists) and

Christine Woller (five kills, 10 assists). Kristen McClune also chipped

in with five kills and eight assists.

The Sailors had a few good runs, especially during the first game. The

hosts came within trailed Mater Dei, 6-4, but the Monarchs scored five

straight points to take an 11-4 lead. Newport crept back to trail, 14-9,

after Mater Dei made a few unforced errors, but Mallorie Croal had a kill

to seal the game for Mater Dei.

In the second game, Newport jumped to a 2-0 lead, but Mater Dei scored

on two unforced errors to pull even. Newport took a 3-2 lead after the

Mater Dei allowed the ball to drop for an error. Newport led 4-3 at one

point, but the Monarchs took over after that, going on a 12-1 run to win

the game. The Monarchs sealed the game with akill by Pavlik.

In game three, Mater Dei opened with a 6-1 run. Newport scored two

points on unforced errors, but the Monarchs came on strong again, scoring

five straight points to take an 11-3 lead. The Sailors took a timeout

late in the game to regroup, but the Monarchs closed it out by

capitalizing on an unforced error and making three straight blocks.

“I thought if we got a run we could have a chance,” Glenn said. “(The

Monarchs) are not huge physically, but they did a nice job of keeping the

ball in play. They just let teams beat themselves.”

Mater Dei Coach Craig Pazanti was without All-American Breegan

Mulligan, who had a sprained ankle. Despite that, Pazanti was glad the

outcome of the game wasn’t different.

“Any time you come in here and win it’s good,” Pazanti said. “I

definately wasn’t expecting to come out with a win like this.”