Tars stun Mater Dei

Richard Dunn

After an improbable comeback victory, in which Newport Harbor

High’s girls volleyball team rallied from a two-game deficit to

defeat Mater Dei in five games Wednesday night, Sailors Coach Dan

Glenn scored some high points from his No. 1 supporter -- his wife,

Mary.

“I think that rates as one of the top-five comebacks. I had the

diaper bag all packed (after two games),” quipped the coach’s wife,

with two babies in tow.

Newport Harbor (6-1), which was swept by Mater Dei in the

quarterfinals of the Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament last week,

appeared almost lifeless after the visiting Monarchs (7-3) won the

first two games, 15-10, 15-4.

But the Sailors came back and won the next three games, 16-14,

15-13, 15-11, in a riveting nonleague match for the ages.

“It’s also the first time these kids beat Mater Dei,” said Glenn,

whose team defeated Mater Dei for the first time in the 2000s. “These

kids lost to Mater Dei on the lower levels, too. It’s the first time

we’ve beaten Mater Dei since April (Ross in 1999).”

Ross, a former Gatorade National Player of the Year and now a star

at USC, would have been proud of her alma mater’s comeback.

“They played hard,” Mater Dei Coach Craig Pazanti said of the

Sailors, who lost to Mater Dei, 15-11, 15-6, in a best-of-three match

in the Dave Mohs Tournament, which serves as the Orange County

Championships. “I give a lot of credit to Newport Harbor. That team

came back with a lot of heart.”

Mater Dei, ranked No. 4 in Orange County and sixth in the

Southland by the Los Angeles Times, lost to Los Angeles Marymount in

the Dave Mohs Tournament title match Monday night, after blowing a

14-5 lead in the second game.

And, after easily winning the second game against the Sailors for

a 2-0 edge, the Monarchs enjoyed a 12-7 advantage in the third game.

Newport Harbor, ranked fifth in the county, chipped away and

gained momentum. Then, after Glenn inserted junior outside hitter

Lauren Miller into the lineup, the Sailors found another weapon to

help Pepperdine-bound 6-foot-3 middle blocker Kristin McClune (30

kills), junior outside hitter Alyson Jennings and sophomore opposite

Emily Turner.

Miller fired a rocket off the fists of Mater Dei’s Kelly Klein for

a Newport sideout with the hosts trailing in the third game by five

points. McClune followed with a scoring kill and the Tars’ rally was

underway. Despite eight service errors in the third game, the Sailors

were still able to come back.

During one late point, Newport’s Kellie King kept a rally alive

with an outstanding dig on a spike by Mater Dei’s Andrea Collins,

leading to a combined scoring block by Jennings and 6-foot freshman

Bryana Carey that cut the Monarchs’ lead to 13-11.

Newport Harbor staved off three match points in the third game,

then tied the game, 14-14, on Turner’s service winner. McClune had a

kill for a one-point lead and a Mater Dei hitting error capped the

victory.

“We were down in that third game and not playing very well. We

missed a lot of serves,” Glenn said. “It’s really a good comeback.”

In a wild fourth game, Newport rallied from a 6-5 deficit to take

an 11-6 lead, then Mater Dei came on strong at the end and tied the

game, 13-13.

After a Jennings kill for a sideout, Newport scored on

back-to-back Monarch hitting errors for the slim margin of victory.

In the fifth game, the Sailors opened well again, this time with a

4-0 lead on the heels of great digging by Miller and King, an ace by

King and stuff block by Carey.

Mater Dei, which never led in the rally-scoring finale, pulled to

within one point on a couple of occasions, the last time when Harbor

had a 9-8 edge.

At that point, McClune fooled the Mater Dei defense with an

off-speed kill with her left hand, then she added two service winners

for a 12-8 Newport lead. Mater Dei pulled to within 12-10 and 13-11, but Newport Harbor ended an unlikely comeback win on kills by Turner

and Miller, whose game-winner hit the back line and Tars’ fans

erupted.