Kipp, Gan finish on top

NEWPORT BEACH — The South team at the 32nd Dave Mohs Memorial All-Star girls’ match Tuesday might’ve looked like a professional volleyball team that practices and plays daily.

That’s because it has.

The South team, which included Corona del Mar High senior Conley Kipp, used that familiarity to win all three games, 25-18, 25-23, 15-11, at Newport Harbor High.

“I had a little bit of an advantage,” said Darryl Gan, the South coach who is also the head man of the Corona del Mar girls. “A lot of the girls were all from the same club team. I think everybody worked well together and played hard. They’re an amazing group of girls. All of them are great players and it was a pleasure to coach them.”

Kipp, who with Gan helped lead the Sea Kings to the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA final in the fall, capped her high school career with some wins. She’s headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“[She’s] a great kid, obviously a very good player and did very well for us,” Gan said. “Conley always came up with a great block or a kill when we needed it ... and she was always in the mix.”

On the other side, the North roster was filled with players that have usually played against each other.

“Every girl that was on my team, I’ve seen all of them across the net before, but it was fun to actually play with them and get to know them just a little bit,” said middle blocker Jennifer Palmquist of Newport Harbor. “It was still good, fun volleyball and it was for a good cause and that’s all that matters.”

But Palmquist, who plans on going to Princeton University, didn’t just play with strangers Tuesday. She was reunited with two of her Newport Harbor teammates Mary Buckingham and Arielle Lysacek.

“I love Mary and Jen, they’re always fun to play with,” said Lysacek, who is going to University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the fall. “Jen always can loosen me up and make me smile and Mary [bound for UC Berkeley] is always helping me out and making me laugh.”

Lysacek added she heads for UNC-Greensboro later in the month to start summer school and hopes to continue her volleyball career after college.

“I just can’t wait to go out there and experience something different. I’m starting so it’ll be really fun,” she said. “College is going to go great for me, I hope, and I want to join [the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals beach tour] and see what I can do from there. I love playing so I want to do it as long as I can. So you’ll see me around.”

The all-star match also provided a nice closure for the Newport Harbor players competing at home.

“I love this gym and after watching the [Newport Harbor] guys season made me sad like ‘Oh I’ll never play here again.’ But it was really fun – especially because I got to play with Arielle and Mary,” Palmquist said. “It was an honor. I was really excited to be chosen [for the all-star team].”

University High outside hitter and setter Bojana Tendorvic of the South was named the most outstanding player. She is bound for UCLA

“I played against her all year. We had a really good rivalry with [University],” Gan said. “She’s a great player, a team player, and plays really hard.”