Home sweet for Sailors

NEWPORT BEACH — It’s spring break for the Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team, but all the Sailors have done is stay at home.

In the last week, the Sailors have faced their top three challengers in the Sunset League, all in home matches.

But even if there weren’t as many student fans in attendance Friday night, Newport Harbor stayed on top of its game. The Sailors dispatched Los Alamitos in a three-game Sunset League sweep, 25-20, 25-20, 30-28.

Newport Harbor, the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, has now taken out Edison, No. 10 Fountain Valley and finally No. 5 Los Al in its last three league matches. Coach Dan Glenn’s squad has won six straight matches since a loss to rival Corona del Mar at the Orange County Championships on March 15, a streak that also includes a win over then-No.1 ranked Mira Costa.

“We played three really good teams in a row during spring break,” Glenn said. “Those were all real good wins with the student body basically gone. We usually get a good group of students, and it’s unfortunate we played those matches without the kids here. Those are all fun volleyball matches for them to watch, and next round we’ll have to play all those teams on the road.”

Senior Tucker Peleuses had a team-high 16 kills and added five blocks Friday for the Tars (16-3, 4-0 in league). Peleuses remembered when Newport Harbor played Los Al at those Orange County Championships, another close match.

“We knew we had to come out and really just stomp on them,” Peleuses said. “We really needed to dig, because they’re a good jump-serving team. Team defense was a big thing for us, I think that helped us get the sweep.”

Senior Mark Liebermann, who had 14 kills and two blocks, found it hard to determine a chink in the armor for Newport Harbor, which had 27 digs.

“We blocked well, served well, passed well,” Liebermann said. “We just played really well tonight all-around. We were really consistent with our hits.”

Of course, Glenn wouldn’t be the coach if he didn’t see room for improvement. Although the Sailors had three service aces — two by UCLA-bound senior setter Kyle Caldwell — he also counted 13 missed serves for Newport Harbor.

“It seemed like every time we got some momentum, we missed a serve,” Glenn said.

Newport Harbor fell behind early in the match, as Los Al (16-8, 2-2) earned a 10-7 lead in the opening game behind a kill from senior middle blocker Mat Markel (nine kills).

But the Sailors eventually evened the score at 15-15 on back-to-back kills from Peleuses, then used a tip by senior Max Volz to draw ahead and prompt a Griffins timeout. The Sailors would never again trail the game, and led throughout Game 2 before things got interesting late in Game 3.

Los Al got a game point, going up 24-23 on a kill from Dylan Bakker, but Newport Harbor won two straight points for its first match point. The teams continued going back and forth, until another tip from Volz gave the Tars their fourth match point at 29-28. They converted it when a hit from Los Al senior outside hitter Kyle McElderry, who had a team-high 10 kills, went wide.

Caldwell finished with five kills and 39 assists for Newport Harbor.

The Sailors maintain a game advantage in league on Edison, which defeated Esperanza on Friday. Newport Harbor has a busy week ahead, traveling to Marina on Tuesday and playing host to Esperanza on Friday.

The Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions then begins Friday. Valencia and CdM, teams that have both beaten Newport Harbor this year, are also included in the loaded Santa Barbara field.

“I think right now we’re making a few too many unforced errors to do well in that tournament,” Glenn said. “We’ve got to eliminate those, but we’re playing better. It’s a talented group. I still think we can get a lot better, and that’s the goal right now.”

MATT SZABO can be reached at (714) 966-4614 or matthew.szabo@latimes.com.