Tars push past Poly

Barry Faulkner

So vast is the CIF Southern Section, postseason competition can

sometimes bring together schools and teams that are, seemingly,

worlds apart.

Such was the case Friday night, when Long Beach Poly visited

Newport Harbor for a CIF Division I first-round boys volleyball

match. But the gap was revealed more in styles than on the

scoreboard, even though Newport Harbor prevailed, 15-5, 15-9, 15-9,

to advance to Tuesday’s second round at No. 2-seeded San Clemente.

“Their experience really showed,” Poly Coach Steve LaRusch said of

the Sailors (20-11), who led throughout, but never really dominated.

“I wish we would have taken one game off of them. It was frustrating

for us to be playing so well and not be able to get a point. Their

defense was incredible. We’re guts and ghetto and, on their side of

the net, it’s a choreograph, like a dance. They’re very pretty to

watch, unfortunately.”

There was something less aesthetic about the Jackrabbits (19-11),

whose leading hitter was 5-foot-8 senior Sam Eilu and whose middle

blocker, stout senior Zephyr McKenzie, bore a more striking

resemblance to a middle linebacker.

“They have some good athletes who haven’t played a lot of

volleyball,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “They’re

unorthodox.”

Despite some sloppy play by the hosts, which allowed Poly to

extend the games 24, 26 and 30 minutes, Glenn had few qualms

afterward.

“This was a good win,” he said. “I thought we did a good job of

playing within our game. We had to battle for points, which is

something that is going to help us on Tuesday.”

The Sailors offered plenty of help to the visitors in the opening

game, committing five service errors and making a handful of other

miscues that prompted Glenn to call a pair of timeouts.

Newport sailed to leads of 8-0 and 11-1 in the second game, but

Poly, the Moore League’s third-place representative, closed to within

12-8, before the Tars finished them off.

Up just 5-4 in the third game, the Sailors, over a span that

included 13 sideouts, scored nine straight points to force match

point. It took nine match points, however, for Newport Harbor to

close the deal. After exhausting all their substitutions, the Sailors

got the clinching point on a stuff block by 6-0 senior Ryan Newell, a

development Glenn later called “beautiful.”

Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-8 junior middle, led a balanced Sailor

attack with 13 kills. Senior outside hitter Michael McDonald (10),

senior outside hitter Michael Toole (eight), senior middle Paul Toman

(eight), senior Nick Glassic (six) and junior setter Adam Schlesinger

(six) also capitalized on the visitors’ lack of height. Schlesinger

posted 41 assists, while Glassic led the winners with three stuff

blocks.

Junior Morgan Govaars had two aces and two service winners.

Eilu, whose jumping ability often allowed him to look down on

taller blockers, pounded 15 kills, while senior setter Tyler

Rasmussen added 25 assits and four kills. McKenzie had four of his

team’s 10 stuff blocks.

Thanks to a first-round bye, San Clemente (26-1), ranked No. 1 in

Orange County, was on hand to watch the Sailors Friday. The Tritons

are looking to avenge two playoff losses to Newport Harbor in the

last three seasons, including a second-round Division II setback last

spring.