Gan takes trip to other side with Downey

The new running joke in Darryl Gan’s family involves him.

Gan is the new Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball coach. He played at Newport Harbor, where his three siblings played for Sailors longtime coach Dan Glenn.

The two Back Bay rivals don’t play until Nov. 7, but Gan is already getting an earful from family members.

“Haven’t they already?” said Gan of being called a traitor. “The big question is what side of the [bleachers] are my parents going to sit on? Do they sit on Dan’s side, or do they sit on my side?

“Or maybe they just don’t go?”

Glenn already has the answer.

“That’s easy,” Glenn said. “The family will root for Harbor.”

Gan and Glenn missed each other by one year at Newport Harbor.

Gan graduated in 1986. Glenn took over the following year.

Never have the two crossed paths coaching against each other as head coaches in high school. This is Gan’s first varsity head coaching job.

The 40-year-old has mostly coached with the Orange County Volleyball Club, where he’s the director. In his first year at CdM, Gan has an experienced high school coach in Jim Downey assisting.

How did Gan add a coach who won CIF State Division IV titles in 1994 and 1995 while at Calvary Chapel?

“Bribery,” Gan joked.

Downey, 50, is a busy man. He’s the principal at Mission Viejo Christian School. The rest of the Sea Kings value Downey as another resource.

Both Gan and Downey wouldn’t be at CdM, or coaching in high school, if it weren’t for the CIF Southern Section allowing club coaches in any sport to coach their athletes during the high school season and offseason.

The section dropped the Association Rule, which other sections in the state already had done. The ruling went into effect on July 1.

Volleyball is a big-time club sport in Southern California.

Some question whether the section’s decision is good for high school volleyball.

Will coaches favor players from their club team?

Will only players who are on the club team be able to play on the high school team?

Will players transfer to a school to play for their club coach?

Gan said none of that is happening at CdM.

Gan said four of the 16 CdM varsity athletes play for OCVC. One of those is junior setter Madie Smith.

Smith is glad Downey, her head coach at OCVC, can also guide her in high school.

“These are two of my favorite coaches and I’m really excited to finally [play for them in high school],” said Smith, adding that juniors Alexa Ossipoff, Sydney Brombal and Sarah Folks played for Downey’s 16-and-under team last season. “In the past, it’s just kind of been not so great.

“[Downey] was my club coach this last season and we went to the finals in Reno.”

Downey believes things are in place to lead CdM to the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA championship. The Sea Kings are ranked No. 3 in the Division II-AA preseason coaches’ poll.

The team fell short of reaching the finals last year, losing in the semifinals. During Bill Christiansen’s seven years as the head coach, CdM won a section crown and finished runner-up twice.

If the Sea Kings are able to return to the title match, at least Gan won’t have to go through Newport Harbor, a team he said almost all of its girls play for OCVC. The Sailors play in Division I-AA.

“It’s going to be fun,” Gan said of the Battle of the Bay.

COSTA MESA

Coach: Casey Petersen (third year)

2007 record: 3-16, 0-7 in Orange Coast League, fourth place

Returning starters: OH Whitney Crosby (Sr.); S Kim Bjelland (Sr.); MB Jessica Rubright Sr.

Key newcomers: S Alex Krohnfeldt (So.)

Key dates: at Irvine, Sept. 16; at home against Santa Fe, Oct. 1; at Estancia, Oct. 7; at home against Estancia, Oct. 23; at home against Godinez, Oct. 29

Outlook: In Petersen’s final year as coach, she believes this group is the strongest in her three years. Before Petersen goes to dental school, she’ll have eight seniors, led by Crosby at outside hitter. The 5-foot-9 Crosby led the team in kills and Petersen said the senior is being recruited by San Francisco State, where Petersen played college volleyball. Only two players were lost to graduation. Petersen said she will miss coaching at her alma mater, but the 2001 graduate added it’s time for a new chapter in her life. When Petersen leaves, Costa Mesa will have to hire its sixth coach in eight years.

CORONA DEL MAR

Coach: Darryl Gan (first year)

2007 record: 18-12, 7-0 in Pacific Coast League, first place

Returning starters: S Madie Smith (Jr.); MB Conley Kipp (Sr.), OH Jenny Martin (Sr.), OH Sydney Brombal (Jr.), OP Amanda Nickel (Jr.); MB Claire Ham (So.)

Key newcomers: OH Hailey Senske (So.); L Catherine Sullivan (So.)

Key dates: at Dave Mohs Tournament, Sept. 19-20; at home against Laguna Beach, Oct. 13; at Santa Barbara Tournament, Oct. 24-25; at home against Newport Harbor, Nov. 7

Outlook: Gan takes over a program losing seven players to graduation. Luckily for Gan, the Sea Kings showed him last month at the prestigious Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii, where they placed fourth, that they are just as strong, possibly even better than last year’s team under Bill Christiansen. CdM, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA preseason coaches’ poll, have one of the best setters in the section in Smith. With Kipp (6-4) and Ham (6-2) at middle blocker, Brombal and Martin at outside hitter, the Sea Kings have a lot of weapons and they’re poised to make a run at a section title.

ESTANCIA

Coach: Jim Huffman (sixth year)

2007 record: 19-13, 4-3 in Orange Coast League, second place

Returning starters: OH Annie Tomasek (Sr.); MB Maddie Stack (Sr.); OP Taryn Patton (Sr.); S Shona Lamb (Jr.); OH Amy Hartwell (Jr.); L Amanda Watson (Jr.)

Key newcomers: OH Kelsey Asher (Jr.); MB Lauren Peterson (Fr.); MB Danielle Ulrich (Fr.)

Key dates: at Pomona Ganesha Tournament, Sept. 18-20; at Capistrano Valley Tournament, Oct. 3-4; at home against Laguna Beach, Nov. 10; at home against Calvary Chapel, Nov. 12

Outlook: Huffman said Laguna Beach has the best team again in league, but the Eagles have the top outside hitter in Tomasek. Dana Hutchinson is at the University of Arizona after leading the Breakers to back-to-back league and CIF Southern Section Division II-AA titles. The 5-11 Tomasek last season led the team with 277 kills and 260 digs, earning first-team all-league and Dream Team honors. The Eagles will try for their third consecutive second-place finish. Last season, they advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year. With only two starters lost to graduation, Huffman thinks Estancia can go deeper.

NEWPORT HARBOR

Coach: Dan Glenn (23rd year)

2007 record: 26-4, 9-1 in Sunset League, tied for first place

Returning starters: OH Mary Buckingham (Sr.); S/L Kelly Heenan (Jr.)

Key newcomers: OH Maddy Brown (So.); OH Kirby Burnham (Jr.); S Mackenzie Campbell (Jr.); OH Jackie Graham (Jr.); OP Megan Spicer (Jr.); OH Maggie Magner (Jr.); L Missy Fitzsimmons (Jr.)

Key dates: at Great Oak, Sept. 17; at Dave Mohs Tournament, Sept 19-20; at Nike Challenge at Mother McAuley of Chicago, Oct. 3-4; at Los Alamitos, Oct. 7; at Corona del Mar, Nov. 7

Outlook: Glenn said this year’s squad is not his most talented team in his 23 years, but it is the deepest. The Sailors, ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA preseason coaches’ poll, will need contributions from everyone if they plan to win the Sunset League outright this year after sharing it the past two years with Los Alamitos. Newport Harbor lost a lot of talent, including four-year varsity players Megan Munce, Jamie Heenan and Alesha Young, that almost helped the team pull off a semifinal upset at Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach, the No. 1-ranked team in the country in 2007. Division I-AA is stacked again.

SAGE HILL

Coach: Dan Thomassen (fifth year)

2007 record: 9-14, 7-3 in the Academy League, second place

Returning starters: MB Tierney Danner (Sr.); MB Katharine Bukaty (Sr.); S Hanalynn Hunt (Jr.); OH Lindsay Kish (Jr.); MB/OH Madison Gordon-Lavaee (Jr.); OH/L Sally Mace (Jr.); MB/OH Hayden Furey (Jr.)

Key newcomers: MB Hannah Jeffrey (Jr.); OH. Tess Wohrle (Fr.); OH/L Natasha Sakraney (Fr.); MB Zoe Krietenberg (Fr.)

Key dates: at JSerra, Sept. 23; at home against Northwood, Oct. 2; at home against Francis Parker, Oct. 3; at home against St. Margaret’s, Oct. 22; at St. Margaret’s, Nov. 6

Outlook: The Lightning have fallen short of winning a league championship the last two years. Third in 2006. Second in 2007. Thomassen joked that Sage Hill is due for first. In order to fulfill that, it will have to get through rival St. Margaret’s, the same team it shared the league title with in 2005 and later that year beat in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-A championship to earn Sage Hill’s first section crown. A lot of players with starting experience return, but the Lightning, ranked No. 10 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA preseason coaches’ poll, are not senior heavy with just two seniors, Danner and Bukaty.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.