‘Great’ Ella Olson helps Newport Harbor close out Marina
After jumping out to big leads in each of the first two sets, the tables had turned on the Newport Harbor girls’ volleyball team in its Sunset League opener.
Marina had established a 17-12 advantage in the third set, positioning itself to extend the match.
The Sailors put their fate in the hands of Ella Olson, a standout sophomore outside hitter, and from that point, she provided six of her nine kills in what turned out to be the final set. She erased three set points with powerful swings from the left pin.
Olson then combined with Sadie Henderson on a match-ending block of Marina’s Korynn Mayo, as Newport Harbor came away with a 25-22, 25-19, 27-25 sweep in its Sunset League opener.
“She’s great,” Newport Harbor coach Andrew Mabry said of Olson. “She has the ability to rise to the occasion. She’s shown it over and over. She’s going to continue to show it, and she supports her teammates. It’s pretty easy to play with somebody like that.
“I thought we did a good job in the end of that third set. As a team, we gave her opportunities to do what she did — good digs, good serves, good ball control. The setting was very good at the end of that third set, kept us in rhythm, gave her an opportunity to go, and she definitely went.”
Sophia Kim, who had a dozen assists and two service aces, pushed a couple of those sets from the right sideline on top of the left pin for Olson late in the third set.
Olson finished with a match-leading 18 kills, adding 14 digs, four assists and three block assists.
“I regret tipping when we lose, so I just try to hit as much as I can,” said Olson, who was one of two freshmen pin hitters who started for the Sailors last season, along with opposite Vladimira Kotzakov (six kills).
Newport Harbor (4-1) remains a young group, adding another contributing freshman to its corps in outside hitter Piper Coady. She had 14 kills and four aces, including one that ricocheted off Marina’s Rylee Hartwell in the back row and went through the elevated basketball hoop at the west end of the gym, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“I love my littles,” said Kim, a junior setter. “Honestly, I learn from them because they’re hugely talented. Ella’s such a big role model to me. Her talent is pretty remarkable, and then Piper coming in … just took our team to another level.”
Talea Berry distributed 20 assists to go with two aces. Ava Christiano provided eight digs, and Samantha Fleischli had a solo block and two block assists for the Sailors.
Mayo, a sophomore outside hitter, had 14 kills to pace Marina (7-6). Brooklyn Enriquez added a dozen kills, Addison Brown had six kills and two block assists, and Aurora Holmes had five kills.
Cienna Enriquez dished out 17 assists, and Alyssa Enriquez added 14 assists.
“We need to start talking earlier in the game, start talking throughout the game, even when we’re down,” Mayo said. “When the game started, we were down 5-0 [in the first set], and we have to talk our way through that.
“I think we did okay. We obviously didn’t win the first set, but I think we talked our way [through it]. It’s fun to play good teams like this because it’s exciting to see what you can become.”
Additional girls’ volleyball results:
Costa Mesa 3, Fullerton 2: Gracie Glass had 19 kills to lead the visiting Mustangs to a 22-25, 25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 17-15 win on Tuesday in a Golden West League opener.
Aubrey Spallone added 17 kills for Costa Mesa (7-5). Brooke Mehanna finished with 24 assists, and Isabel Ortega-Davidson tallied 23 assists.
Costa Mesa also beat crosstown rival Estancia 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22 in the Battle for the Bell match on Monday at home.
Spallone had 20 kills and 16 digs to lead the Mustangs. Glass added 11 kills, seven digs and two aces.
Andrea Restrepo chipped in with nine digs and accounted for six of 15 aces for Costa Mesa. Ortega-Davidson added 22 assists, six digs and four aces.
Sage Hill 3, Tarbut V’Torah 0: Senior outside hitter Bella Giarla had nine kills and five aces for the host Lightning on Tuesday in a nonleague game.
Addison Uphoff added eight kills, and Joanna Chen had five kills for Sage Hill (5-3).
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