Volz had been battling sickness from the start of the tournament, which the Sailors won for the first time since 1999.
Friday night, he ran outside the gym in the middle of Game 2 against Clovis West when the contents of his stomach refused to stay put. But he came back and played anyway.
Volz was so sick Coach Dan Glenn gave him a room to himself Friday night, but Saturday, he turned in nine kills, six aces and two blocks against the one team the Sailors relish beating even more than Corona del Mar.
After the Sailors won the first point off Eric Miyamoto’s serve, Volz opened with an ace. Mark Leibermann and Cody Caldwell had a block for the third point, and Volz served up another ace to give the Sailors a 4-0 lead over Valencia, widely considered the best team in the nation.
Valencia is ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll, while the Sailors occupy the top spot in Division I.
Corona del Mar fell victim to the Tigers’ high-powered offensive attack in a semifinal Saturday morning, and the Sailors were expecting the same intense kills in the final.
“We knew they had a lot of offensive attacks that they were going to be bringing, so we really bunkered down and got a lot of digs,” Volz said. “That was a big, big, help for us.”
Andrew Kaban led Newport Harbor with seven digs.
Volz’ energy matched his teammates, and anyhow, there’s no way he would have let Glenn bench him.
“I was so proud of [Volz],” said senior Tucker Peleuses, who had 14 kills. “He absolutely pulled it together. It’s such a morale booster to know that he’s been super sick, and for him to come out here and actually lead the team, being sick, it’s like a double morale booster. It’s awesome.”
