Sailors shock CdM

CORONA DEL MAR — Five and six, the difference is one.

One separated Newport Harbor High from Corona del Mar in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll.

One game proved to be the difference between these two rivals Friday night.

The Battle of the Bay went to a decisive fifth game, with the Sailors rallying from two games down to win, 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-13. The Sailors stormed the court and their fans followed while the host Sea Kings watched in disappointment.

The regular-season finale for both teams turned out to be a classic.

For No. 6-ranked CdM (22-8), not so much.

The No. 5-ranked Sailors (24-7) will remember the thrilling finish as they ride high into the playoffs next week with a better seed than the Sea Kings. The playoff pairings will be released Monday, with the first-round matches set for Wednesday.

“The only thing I worry about this is such an emotional game, you don’t want your first round in CIF to be a letdown, but it’s pretty hard to match the intensity of this match,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said.

“This isn’t to get ready for the playoffs, this is the city championship.”

The Sailors are city champs for the second straight season. They closed out the regular season perfect in the Sunset League before a dramatic comeback on the road.

Trailing 10-5 in the decisive fifth game, Newport Harbor took the match from CdM. Outside hitter Cody Caldwell recorded the winner, his 26th kill. Another key contributor in Game 5 included middle blocker Cailen Sullivan, who came off the bench to stuff a shot and hammer one.

“We got to move on and get ready for CIF,” CdM Coach Steve Conti said.

It might be hard because the city bragging rights appeared to belong to CdM. Somehow it lost control of Game 5, in the same fashion in the previous two games after winning the first two games by identical scores.

The Sea Kings also had a perfect record in their league, the Pacific Coast League. Sweeping their rivals would have been the ideal way to finish the regular season.

Practically everything went CdM’s way at the start. Outside hitter Weston Nielsen recorded nine of his 17 kills in the first two games. The junior played out of his mind.

Glenn almost lost his mind.

“We started out the [match] … complaining about a call and I got upset at my team about that,” Glenn said. “It wasn’t a bad call either, just the fact that they’re not thinking about the play [on the court].

“We were just being outplayed. It wasn’t that we were playing poorly.”

Glenn pulled his players aside and told them they had to fight. They came out swinging in Game 3 and continued to pound away.

Newport Harbor’s serve game improved and Caldwell led the charge. He finished with six kills in the third game. The doors for a comeback literally opened up, cooling down the Sea Kings.

Caldwell said he felt it was the right time for the Sailors to rally.

“When we lost the first two games, we weren’t giving up,” said Caldwell, who added eight digs and two blocks. “We knew we were going to come back.”

The momentum began to slip away from the Sea Kings. Water leaked from a cooler next to the court and CdM began its freefall.

JB Green kept the Sailors ahead in Game 4, getting them at game point on one of his 13 kills. Hamilton Day ended the game with one of his three blocks.

“We had an opportunity to step up,” said Conti, who saw Dylan Davis finish with 18 kills and four blocks. “I don’t know if we quite took advantage of that opportunity.”

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