Sailors sweep into CIF final

Barry Faulkner

Host Mark Keppel High came eye-to-shoulder with the top-seeded

enemy from Newport Harbor Tuesday night and the result was a

dominating 15-2, 15-10, 15-10 victory for the Sailors in a CIF

Southern Section Division II-AA girls volleyball semifinal.

But Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors (25-6), who will meet No. 2-seeded

Westlake (22-3) for a chance at their seventh Southern Section title,

most likely Saturday at Cypress College, didn’t come away from

Tuesday’s 75-minute sweep without learning something from the

animated Aztecs (19-3).

“That’s what I love about high school volleyball,” Glenn said of

the defensive-minded hosts, whose tallest players, outside hitter

Lani Marsden and middle blocker Jackie Brown, were 5-foot-8. “They

reminded us what volleyball is all about, which is getting the ball

back over the net. It may have been the perfect team for us to play

at this time of the season, because they set such a good example of

how to play defense. You could see how they got to the semifinals,

buy outdigging teams and having more heart.”

Newport Harbor, however, wasn’t about to be outdone by the Almont

League runners-up, whose volleyball program listed a grand total of

one league championship (1981) on the banners decorating the school’s

rustic gymnasium wall.

Utilizing 6-foot-3 senior middle blocker Kristin McClune, who

finished with a match-high 28 kills, the Sailors overwhelmed the

Aztecs in the opening game, then overcame them in the final two.

“When we ran the middle, we were successful,” Glenn said. “They

didn’t have anyone who could stop us.”

The Aztecs often times elected not to oppose Sailor hitters with

blockers, instead assembling their defensive web in the backcourt to

try to dig Harbor’s sizzling spikes. The ploy proved successful much

of the time, though setter Kelly King’s ability to set the back slide

to McClune seemed to create more open areas for balls to find the

floor.

King, a 5-7 junior who towered over a Keppel starting lineup that

averaged just more than 5-3, finished with 34 assists.

Joining McClune on the receiving end of those sets, which included

six assists from Alyson Jennings and five from Jordan Carmack, were

Lauren Miller, Shelly Langford, Emily Turner and Jennings.

Miller, a 5-11 junior outside hitter, had 10 kills, while

Langford, a 5-11 senior middle, added eight. Jennings, a 5-8 junior

outside hitter, chipped in seven kills and Turner, a 5-8 opposite,

added six.

McClune had two stuff blocks and one ace serve, while Turner and

Jennings also had blocks for the winners.

Marsden, a senior, had 16 kills for the hosts, who also received

six kills from 5-5 senior middle blocker Jessica Liang and five from

Brown, a junior. Lisa Yamasaki, a 5-4 junior setter, had 20 assists.

Marsden had the only stuff block for the Aztecs.

The Sailors, who also earned a berth in the CIF State playoffs,

which accepts both finalists from the Southern Section, rolled to a

7-0 lead, before a spirited student section roared over the Aztecs’

first point.

Back-to-back net violations gave Mark Keppel its first two points,

before the Tars scored the next eight to close out an 11-minute

opening game.

Keppel forged leads of 3-0 and 8-5 in the second game, before

consecutive kills by Jennings turned a 9-8 deficit into a 10-9 Harbor

lead.

Keppel Coach Minnie Caluag, who had her team warm up in an

alternate gym, perhaps so as not to be intimidated by the Sailors’

height, kept trying to stall the visitors’ momentum with timeouts.

She called two timeouts in each game, but Newport Harbor kept

pushing for its third sweep in as many playoff matches.

Keppel’s only lead in the third game was at 1-0.

Newport, which lost to Mira Costa in last year’s II-AA title

match, defeated Westlake, 15-3, 15-4, 15-5, in last year’s section

semifinals.

This will be the Sailors’ 11th appearance in a section

championship match. They earned titles in 1999 (Division I-AA), ’98

(I-AA), ’97 (I-AA), ’94 (Division I), ’87 (5-A) and ’79 (4-A).