Sailors sweep away Knights

NEWPORT BEACH ? The final point in Newport Harbor High’s boys’ volleyball match with Foothill was representative of the match and the season as a whole.

Junior Weston Dunlap rose up to meet Ted Slater’s set. Dunlap missed connecting with the ball directly, but it still floated down to the court in between three Knights, all of whom dived in vain.

The Sailors are finding success this season, the latest a 25-14, 25-23, 25-18 Sea View League victory over Foothill on Tuesday.

But Coach Dan Glenn knows his team has not hit its peak.

“The great thing about this team is that we can still get better,” Glenn said. “We’re going to keep improving and hopefully we’ll be playing our best by the playoffs.”

Tuesday, Newport Harbor (11-3, 2-1 in league) displayed why it won the Orange County Championships, which finished March 20. The Sailors, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division I, passed precisely and shared the ball.

Slater finished with 42 assists to go with four blocks. Sophomore Kyle Caldwell notched 11 kills. Tucker Peleuses had nine kills and Dunlap added eight.

“Dunlap had a pretty good match,” Glenn said. “He passed the ball well.”

On most teams Dunlap, who is 6-foot-7, would be pigeonholed as a middle blocker. But for the deep and talented Sailors, Dunlap’s well-rounded game allows him to pass from the back row as well as pound kills on the outside.

The Sailors already have size in the middle with Caldwell, a 6-7 middle blocker. The junior consistently squashed Foothill’s rallies with kills off quick sets.

“He can set, he can hit and he jump-served really well,” Glenn said of Caldwell, who had three aces.

Newport Harbor displayed its dominance early in the match. Up, 4-3, in the opening game, the Sailors went on a 10-1 run with all of the points coming on blocks or kills from four different players. Caldwell started the run with an ace and Slater finished it with a block.

Foothill (3-8, 1-1) got no closer than nine points the remainder of the first game.

“It’s tough to play in this gym,” Glenn said. “We jumped on them early.”

But the Knights would not stay down. Foothill kept the second game close, with five lead changes and 13 ties, and even led late. After falling behind, 2-0, the Sailors came back to take an 8-5 lead on a kill by Dunlap.

Foothill kept within striking distance before taking its largest lead at 20-18, prompting a Newport Harbor timeout.

“I told them ‘We’ve got to regain our consistency,’ ” Glenn said. “We have to eliminate mental mistakes. It was a drastic improvement after that.”

The Sailors responded by outscoring the Knights, 6-1, to take a 24-21 lead after Dunlap, as he did throughout the match, sent an overpass back for a kill.

Foothill would rally, but Newport Harbor held on to take the second game.

“[Foothill] played better,” Glenn said. “We have a tendency to let up.”

There was not as much letting up in the third game for Newport Harbor, which raced out to a 9-4 lead on an ace by senior Brett Auer.

Foothill closed to within 11-7, but an error, a block by Slater and a Caldwell ace widened the margin again to 14-7.

Foothill, which never regained the lead, closed to within 17-16 after three hitting errors by the Sailors.

But Newport Harbor responded with an 8-2 run to end the game.

“We played well,” Glenn said. “They’re a good team. We battled them in the Orange County tournament [winning in two games].”

Newport Harbor will host an alumni match Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Glenn challenged all willing alumni to take on his current squad.dpt-nhvball29.IMGGraphicInfo241PDOTQ20060329241PDOTQNo Captiondpt.29-nhvball-1-ln-BPhotoInfo0K1PDOO220060329iwvh5xknLINDA NGUYEN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Harbor’s Tucker Peleuses, second from left, perpares to spike over outstretched hands of Foothill defenders Harrison Smith (3) and Dane Worley (17) while, from far left, Weston Dunlap, Ted Slater and Max Volz (13) cover.