Newport finding its wings

Bryce Alderton

After dusting away some early cobwebs, the Newport Harbor High boys

volleyball team began to see straight ahead on a road that found

visiting Laguna Hills unmercifully in its way.

The Sailors -- nine-deep at the moment -- powered through the

Hawks, 15-7, 15-5, 15-8, in a Sea View League match that lasted 55

minutes Tuesday at Newport Harbor, honing their skills for a showdown

at Woodbridge Thursday evening that will be for the Sea View lead.

Newport Coach Dan Glenn felt more confident after the match than

he probably was after Newport’s first-game victory, which saw the

17-year-Sailor leader scold his team in a huddle between games for

potential set opportunities it was missing in Game 1.

The Sailors, reigning league champions, regrouped and retooled,

giving Glenn a sweeter taste in his mouth heading into the match

Thursday night against the Warriors.

“I’ve only got nine right now and that is my smallest team in a

long time,” Glenn said. “But they all have made contributions and I

can put them into any situation.”

The Sailors will be without the services of sophomore Brett

Perrine, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered during the

basketball season, for the rest of the year. But Glenn expects

6-foot-8 junior middle blocker Jamie Diefenbach to return to the

lineup following next week’s spring break.

“We’re fine-tuning our middles and setter so when the other team

makes a mistake we can capitalize on it,” Glenn said. “I felt like we

got better. Nick [Glassic] did a good job of serving and Adam

[Schlesinger] did a good job of hitting in the last game.”

Newport withstood Laguna Hills’ only lead of the match (2-1) and a

minor rally late in Game 3 to earn the sweep. Junior outside hitter

Morgan Govaars served five consecutive points as the Sailors (10-8,

3-0 in league) took what at the time was a commanding, 10-4, lead.

Laguna Hills (0-8, 0-3) cut the lead to 12-8 on an ace and three

Newport hitting errors before a ball hit into the net gave the serve

back to the Sailors. Senior outside hitter Mike McDonald served the

final three points, which saw Schelsinger slam one of his three kills

along with a combined stuff block with senior outside hitter Paul

Toman.

Schlesinger tallied a game-high 18 assists for kills from Glassic

(eight), senior outside hitter Michael Toole (seven), Toman (six),

Govaars (four) and Langford (two). Senior outside hitter Ryan Newell

dove head first to keep a ball alive on the final point and senior

setter Nick Kelly tallied seven assists in Game 3.

“We were giving [the Sailors] real easy passes and their ball

control is so good,” said Laguna Hills Coach Jon Colton. “Your ball

control has to be immaculate if you’re going to beat a team like

Newport.”