For a photo gallery of this match, click here.
IRVINE — With Friday night’s win over Corona del Mar High, Newport Harbor may have gotten just the bump it needed for this season’s playoff push.
The Sailors defeated the Sea Kings in four games at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-16, after losing in the Back Bay rivalry match for the past two years.
The Sailors are hoping to ride the wave of confidence from Friday night’s win into the postseason after suffering early exits (first round in 2006, second round in 2007) for the last two seasons.
“If you lose, you get to refocus for the playoffs,” said Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn. “ ‘This is what we’ve got to fix, this is what we’ve got to fix.’ If you win, hopefully that creates some momentum for you. We’ve been on both ends of the stick the last couple of years.”
The hitting errors compounded through the last three games for the Sea Kings, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll. They couldn’t catch a break from Sailors’ offensive stalwarts Kyle Caldwell, Tucker Peleuses, and Mark Leiberman, even though CdM was the last team to beat Newport Harbor.
The Sea Kings downed Newport Harbor in three March 16 at the Orange County Championships, but there was no mistaking which match counted for bragging rights.
The Sailors, the No. 1 team in CIF Southern Section Division I, benefited from a rally that put them ahead 10-4 in the fourth game. Four out of the five Sea Kings’ attempts ended in kills for the Sailors, thanks to CdM’s hitting errors.
CdM lead scorer Jeff Carlson hit .341 for the night for 14 kills, but he also had 15 unforced errors.
Caldwell was quiet in the first game, but finished with nine kills on 12 attempts, including several down-the-middle pounds into open space.
While both Newport Harbor and CdM face the same elite competition at different points in the year, including Valencia and Mira Costa, Sea Kings Coach Steve Conti said the Sailors (27-3) had the benefit of playing in the Sunset League, home to three ranked teams in CIF Division I.
The heftiest competition the Sea Kings (23-7) face in the Pacific Coast League is No. 3-ranked Laguna Beach.
“I think their league prepares them a little more,” Conti said. “It’s a tough league in our county. They’re seeing real good competition two times a week.”
