Sailors keep postseason hopes alive
FOUNTAIN VALLEY — The second half of Sunset League play began on Tuesday for the Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team. If the Sailors plan to make the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the 30th time in as many years under Coach Dan Glenn, he told them they’re probably going to have to go 4-1 the rest of the way in league.
Newport Harbor got the first win out of the way, sweeping host Fountain Valley 25-16, 25-15, 25-17. The Sailors moved into a two-way tie for third place with Los Alamitos at 3-3, but the Griffins hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Newport Harbor.
The top three teams in league earn automatic Division 1AA postseason berths, and last year the fourth-place Sailors made it as an at-large selection. The Sailors (9-14 overall) don’t have the luxury on counting on getting in the same way again because the Sailors are five matches below .500, the prerequisite for the section to consider a team as an at-large entry.
Beside the four league matches remaining on the schedule, Newport Harbor is also traveling at the end of the month to the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, which guarantees every team at least four contests. The two-day tournament, which begins on Oct. 30, always has stiff competition.
The next match is all Glenn is worried about, and the match is against the league’s top program. The Sailors play host to Huntington Beach, which is 6-0 in league and ranked No. 7 in the Division 1AA poll, on Thursday at 5:45 p.m.
“We played them tough the last [set of the match the Oilers swept, 25-11, 25-17, 25-23, on Oct. 6],” Glenn said. “I think if we serve tough, we got a shot against them. They haven’t lost a set [in] league. They’re playing pretty well.
“The thing about them is they don’t really beat themselves, so you got to go and beat them. I think if we can eliminate the runs … and kind of keep it close, [we have a chance]. I think we’re playing much better now than we were a couple of weeks ago [when we played the Oilers].”
The Sailors have split their last four league matches. In the two setbacks, they lost in five sets to Los Alamitos and No. 10 Edison, which is 5-1 in league.
Newport Harbor’s latest match didn’t go the distance, as it swept the Barons for the second time this year. The Sailors went into the evening without middle blocker Jessy Rath, who was out with a concussion, Glenn said.
Fountain Valley, which dropped to 1-5 in league, tried to play spoiler. The hosts took a 6-3 lead in the opening set. Glenn called a timeout, and when the Sailors returned to the court, they went on a 10-4 run. Remy Wilson produced three of her 14 kills during the spurt, and Vivian Donovan, Rachel Hellinger and Jaclyn Brown each got involved in the kill action.
Once the Sailors grabbed the lead, they ran away with the first set. Ellie Hagadorn got everyone involved, finishing with 31 assists. The setter also dumped two balls for kills, blocked a shot and dug six balls.
In Game 2, Donovan sparked Newport Harbor with her serve. The sophomore recorded three of her six aces, helping the Sailors take a 9-4 lead. Donovan had two blocks in the set, and tallied three kills on the night.
Brown hammered eight kills and stuffed three shots, while Madison Holland contributed six kills and four digs. Amanda Walker added three kills and two blocks.
“I think the kids did a good job,” said Glenn, whose team limited Fountain Valley’s Kennedy Hood and Rilyn Todd to six and five kills, respectively. “Now we got to go 3-1 [in league to finish third]. [We] got Huntington, Los Al and Edison [in] those next four [matches], and two of them are on the road, [Los Alamitos on Oct. 27 and Edison on Nov. 3].
“The best thing about it is we’re in total control of what happens to us. We play all these teams. Our playoffs just start a little early this year.”
