Sailors come up with winners

Richard Dunn

The fall season will extend into December for the Newport Harbor

High girls volleyball team.

After defeating South Torrance in five games Saturday night in

front of a large crowd at Newport Harbor, 12-15, 15-9, 15-7, 8-15,

15-12, Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors are one victory from playing in the

CIF State Division II title match.

But it took a dramatic finish to advance past feisty South

Torrance (22-10) in the Southern California Regional semifinals.

Top-seeded Newport Harbor (28-6), facing a 10-10 tie in the fifth

game, rode the 6-foot-3 shoulders of senior middle blocker and

Pepperdine-bound Kristin McClune to edge the Spartans, the CIF

Southern Section Division II-A runners-up to Mater Dei (30-8).

The Sea View League and CIF Southern Section Division II-AA

champion Sailors, who were led by McClune’s 26 kills against the

Spartans, will face third-seeded Liberty of Bakersfield in the

Southern California Regional Finals at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. The

winner advances to the state championship match Dec. 7 at Cypress

College. Liberty defeated host Mater Dei Saturday night in five games

in another regional semifinal, 10-15, 15-12, 15-10, 15-17, 15-12.

“We would love to have played this well against Mater Dei (in the

CIF Division II-AA title match),” South Torrance Coach Robert Kutsch

said.

South Torrance, which won the fourth game to force a fifth-game

rally scoring, held a 9-8 lead in the fifth game after a kill by

setter Caroline Kim.

Newport Harbor junior outside hitter Alyson Jennings (11 kills and

four service aces) recorded back-to-back kills to give the hosts a

one-point lead, then 5-11 senior Ashley Hardwick, whose blocking

against McClune sparked her team early in the fifth game with a 6-2

lead, tied the game, 10-10, on an off-speed kill from the back row.

But South Torrance’s ensuing serve crashed into the strings and

the Sailors enjoyed an 11-10 advantage. On the next rally, McClune’s

solo block on Glory Bracy gave Newport Harbor a 12-10 lead, then the

Spartans scored again.

McClune provided the Sailors with three scoring kills in their

final three points as they celebrated following the 150-minute match.

“At the end, that’s being a senior right there,” Glenn said of

McClune. “I didn’t say a word to her. She stepped it up.”

The Sailors, who served 11 aces, also received standout

performances from junior outside hitter Lauren Miller (nine kills and

three aces) and setter Kellie King (three aces and 51 assists), while

Whitney George, Kiley Hall, Emily Turner and Shelley Langford

contributed significant roles.

South Torrance, which defeated fourth-seeded San Pasqual of

Escondido on the road in the first round in four games, jumped on

Newport Harbor early with an 11-4 lead in the first game, then staved

off a furious Sailor rally to win by three in a riveting finish.

Miller, Turner, Langford and Jennings were the primary cogs in the

Sailors’ comeback as they pulled to within 13-12, before the Spartans

finished them off.

“The first game we kind of gave away,” Glenn said. “They dug a ton

of balls. We made some errors, but I think a lot of that had to do

with them ... this is the state quarterfinals. We should be playing

against a good team. (Hardwick) had 33 kills in their last match.”

After a 4-4 tie in the second game, Harbor pulled in front behind

kills from McClune, Elizabeth Clayton and Miller. After Hardwick (20

kills) served an ace to cut Harbor’s lead to 7-5, Miller stepped to

the service line, and, when her turned expired, the Sailors had

doubled their point total. The hosts, however, needed six game points

to end it. King’s ace crowned the second-game win.

Newport took a 2-1 lead when it captured the third game, in which

the Tars built a 9-2 lead. McClune had 10 of her kills in the third

game, along with a service winner to put the hosts up, 9-2.

South Torrance, also led by Annie Meyers (14 kills), won the

fourth game, racing to a 7-2 lead and never leading by fewer than

three points.

“(The Spartans) won a tough match on the road in the first round,”

Glenn said. “That Saturday night game after Thanksgiving is always a

tough one. And we had a big crowd, but not that many students.”

Glenn said that his team’s serving was a key factor, as it was in

the CIF Division II-AA Finals against Westlake.