Girls volleyball: Mira Costa sweeps Tars for CIF crown

Richard Dunn

CYPRESS - When Newport Harbor High girls volleyball coach Dan Glenn

talked about getting off to a good start for momentum’s sake, this isn’t

what he meant.

The Sailors had not allowed an opponent more than seven points in any

of their previous nine postseason games, let alone faced a deficit.

But in the opening game of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA

championship match against top-seeded Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach, they

found themselves in a big hole, 9-0, as the Mustangs swept the Tars,

15-8, 15-3, 15-10, Saturday at Cypress College.

“That was one thing I was concerned about,” Glenn said of the match’s

beginning. “And, on the very first play, (the Mustangs) got a big block

(by 6-foot junior outside hitter Brooke Phillips). They made good plays.

We were not playing that poorly, it’s just that we were not scoring a lot

of points.”

Second-seeded Newport Harbor (21-10) had as many serves, two, as

timeouts in the early going as the Mustangs (29-5), who won the Division

I-A championship last year, built enough momentum to win in 70 minutes.

In addition to Phillips, Mira Costa featured 6-foot senior outside

hitter and UCLA-bound Teryn Spragg, 6-1 outside hitter Jessica Veris

(match-high 13 kills) and 6-1 middle blocker Renee Lopes (seven kills and

one solo block), while 6-3 middle blocker Hilary Stomath came off the

bench.

“We’re huge, but they’re also good athletes,” said longtime Mira Costa

Coach DaeLea Aldrich, whose team also swept the Sailors in this year’s

Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions Oct. 19, 15-3, 15-8, 17-15.

“We knew going in, with the No. 1 seed, that we had a lot to prove,

and we played better than we did in Santa Barbara (against Newport). Our

serving got tougher and tougher as the match went on and our height

helped us.”

It was the 10th time the two section powers met in the playoffs and

the fifth time in the finals, but only the second time the Mustangs have

come out on top against Newport in a CIF title match and the first since

1985.

“(The Sailors’) hitters have improved since (Oct. 19), but it’s an intimidating factor seeing four hands up there at the net,” Aldrich said.

“And we were picking up balls that they didn’t think we would get. We

handled down balls and we handled free balls. I’m just happy with

everything.”

Newport Harbor, which earned a berth in the CIF State Division II

playoffs with its semifinal victory over Westlake, was led by 6-3 junior

middle blocker Kristen McClune (12 kills) and 5-10 senior middle blocker

Liz Lord (10 kills and 11 digs).

“That’s the best (Lord) has played for me at Newport Harbor,” Glenn

said, then added sarcastically, “otherwise it would have been a 45-minute

match instead of 47 minutes.”

Newport played its typical solid defense, led by 6-1 senior opposite

Christine Woller (11 digs), senior setter Katie King (10), senior outside

hitter Andrea Trinen (10) and sophomore outside hitter Alyson Jennings

(10).

“We had a lot of kids with digs, but we didn’t win any of the long

rallies,” Glenn said.

After deficits of 9-0 and 13-2 in the first game, Newport came back

behind McClune and Lord, who recorded back-to-back solo blocks for points

during a run in which the Sailors pulled to within 13-8. But the Mustangs

closed out the first game on kills by Spragg and senior setter Nora

Pirzynski, whose off-speed return on a second hit fell untouched on the

Newport side to give Mira Costa a 1-0 edge.

In the second game, after a 2-2 tie, the teams exchanged sideouts five

times, before Mira Costa rallied for six straight points with Spragg at

the service line. Mira Costa went on to a 14-2 lead, before a kill by

King and stuff block by Woller gave the Sailors only their third point of

the game.

In a back-and-forth third game, the Sailors led, 2-0, then Mira Costa

rallied with five straight points. But Newport Harbor fought back and

managed a 9-5 lead, as McClune had three kills in the spurt.

The Tars scored four straight points with Trinen at the service line,

initiated by Trinen’s kill for a sideout. Lord followed with a kill and

solo block for points to tie the game, 5-5, then Trinen fired

back-to-back aces for a 7-5 lead.

After a net violation on Mira Costa gave Newport another sideout,

McClune scored on two consecutive kills as the designated visitors

enjoyed their largest lead (four points) of the match.

Mira Costa came back again to tie it, 9-9, then a kill by Trinen put

the Sailors back in the driver’s seat, 10-9.

But that was the last time the Tars would lead as the Mustangs scored

the game’s next six points without an answer to clinch the Division II-AA

championship.