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.
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