Boys volleyball: Tars sweep, but don’t cruise

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Though the match went the minimum three games,

those who witnessed the Back Bay boys volleyball battle between Corona

del Mar High and Newport Harbor Friday night, realize the visiting Sea

Kings made the Sailors put forth maximum effort to claim a 15-6, 16-14,

17-15 nonleague triumph.

“The last half of the second game and all of the third, we had to

really earn our points,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “Once (the

Sea Kings) extended game two, they caught fire. It was fun for me to

watch them play defense tonight. They dug a lot of balls.”

The Sea Kings (11-7), third-place finishers in the Pacific Coast

League, initially dug themselves a hole. They trailed throughout the

first game and surrendered 11 of the final 14 points.

Newport (24-6), champions of the Sea View League and the No. 1 team in

Orange County, then forged an 8-0 lead in the second game, which extended

to 11-2, before the less-experienced visitors started finding their way.

“Sometimes, there’s so much adrenaline, guys are running so hard and

fast, they don’t see the big picture,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said. “Once

we got our composure, we started playing pretty good volleyball.”

Newly inspired and fed by growing support from their rooters, the Sea

Kings fought off six game points, before a stuff block by freshman Kevin

Welch and an ace serve by senior setter Spencer Miller, pulled them even,

14-14.

Newport senior Greg Perrine had back-to-back kills for a sideout and a

point to put the Tars back on top and, after the teams traded sideouts,

the Sea Kings hit a ball into the net to give the Sailors a two-game

lead.

Energized by its second-game rally, the Sea Kings took leads of 3-1,

6-5 and 7-6, as Welch, senior middle blocker Ryan Inman and junior Bart

Welch began putting away Miller’s sets.

Newport rode three unforced errors to a 12-7 cushion, before the

competitive juices replaced adrenaline for both teams, prompting 26

sideouts, before the game was decided.

CdM survived two match points to pull even at 14, the equalizer coming

on a stuff block by Kevin Welch, whom Glenn realizes will be a force in

this rivalry the next three seasons.

“(Kevin) Welch is going to be a very good player,” Glenn said. “I’m

glad we got them this year, because it may be a while before it happens

again.”

Noted Conti, “Kevin Welch battles like a warrior, not a freshman.”

A service winner by Bart Welch put the visitors ahead, 15-14, before

three straight kills by Newport senior Erik Peterson staved off game

points.

A service winner by Brian Gaeta tied the match at 15 and a stuff block

by 6-foot-8 sophomore middle Jamie Diefenbach ended the 49-minute third

game, more than three times as long as the first.

“It started out like it was going to be a 58-minute match, but ended

up being nearly two hours,” Conti said.

Perrine paced the winners with 30 kills, four stuff blocks and two

aces, while senior setter Loyd Wright’s 60 assists helped Peterson (12

kills), Diefenbach (11) and Gaeta (nine) also flourish.

Inman posted a team-high 15 kills for CdM, which also had 12 kills

from Kevin Welch, eight from John Grod, seven from Bart Welch and six

from Eric Jones.

Miller compiled 45 assists for the Sea Kings, while Inman, Kevin Welch

and Grod had three blocks apiece and Kevin Welch added two service

winners.

CIF Southern Section playoff pairings will be released Sunday.