Caldwell healthy for Harbor

Dan Glenn couldn’t believe his luck.

After starting the boys’ volleyball season banged up from basketball for the past three years, senior setter Kyle Caldwell was actually going to be 100% from Day One.

Glenn, the Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball coach, didn’t know what to do with himself.

“It’s surprising because he probably got beat up more in basketball this year that he did in any other,” Glenn said of the 6-foot-9 setter, who played center for the Sailors. When you’re 6-9 you have a few injuries. I’m just excited that he’s healthy right now. He’s playing really well.”

Last year, Caldwell didn’t start playing until late in the season because of a broken right foot. As a sophomore, he was healing from surgery on his right ankle. And as a freshman, Caldwell broke his left foot during the season.

Early on, Glenn wasn’t sure how he’d use Caldwell up front, whether or not he’d strictly be setting or playing a bit at outside hitter as well.

But with the first major tournament under his belt, Caldwell said he was fairly certain his biggest role would be setting. The Sailors, ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division I, finished sixth at the Best of the West Tournament after losing to Valencia in the first round of bracket competition.

“You’ve got the best hitter in high school volleyball setting, and he’s not hitting,” Glenn said, referring to Caldwell. “But I thought that was our best chance of success, and that’s why we went that way.”

The absence of middle blocker Weston Dunlap left Glenn with a significant hole to fill. Dunlap now plays as a hitter for UCLA, where Caldwell committed to playing volleyball despite basketball offers from several Division I schools.

Senior middle blocker Max Volz, and junior Hamilton Day, who was brought up from junior varsity, provide the Sailors’ blocking threat.

The Sailors are loaded with offensive options up front, said senior outside hitter Tucker Peleuses, who will play for USC next year. In addition to himself, the Sailors are bolstered by senior outside hitter Mark Leibermann, who is committed to UC Santa Barbara and junior outside hitter JB Green.

With so many weapons, the Sailors will be difficult to defend once they develop enough cohesion. Over the weekend, they were still trying to shake some of the rust off, according to Peleuses and Caldwell.

“Max [Volz] is filling Weston’s shoes and he’s doing a pretty good job,” Peleuses said. “We can pretty much run it from anywhere. Kyle can pretty much set wherever he wants, or he can take it in his hands and dump it. He’s got so many options, it really helps and makes it easy for us.”

However, junior setter Darren Leggett provides another opportunity to switch up the lineup. Leggett filled in for Caldwell last year.

Last season, the Sailors lost at Long Beach Wilson in the second round of the CIF Division I playoffs after finishing second in the Sunset League behind Esperanza. The season before, they lost in the first round.

“I think this year, we have a lot of seniors who don’t want their season to end in the first round,” said Caldwell, who had 45 assists, 10 kills and two blocks against Huntington Beach Tuesday. “I think we have a lot of talent and the physicality to beat a bunch of teams that play well.”

This year, Glenn is hoping the success of the Sailors’ water polo program will rub off on the volleyball team. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won CIF Division I titles this year.

“Last year was disappointing too because we weren’t able to execute,” said Glenn, who last led the boys’ team to a CIF section title in 1999. “We’ve got a lot of talent. You’re shooting for the CIF title. If you don’t get there, it ends on a bad note. We haven’t done that the last two years at the end, so hopefully we can use that this year.

“We can use some of that water polo karma we’ve got going at our school. I’m thinking about doing some workouts in the pool.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.