Glenn is a fighter himself, as he’s battling a rare form of cancer in his right eye. The eye saw everything he wanted it to see in the first final between Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos.
Sixteen Sailors lined up near the net, standing proud and tall at the end. They reached the top for the first time in their careers on this stage.
The top-seeded Sailors (29-6) gave Glenn his seventh section title. Having won it before, Glenn held the plaque for a moment, then handed it to his girls.
Senior middle blocker Katey Thompson carried the plaque around, hoisting it so everyone inside the packed gym could see it, touch it. Thompson didn’t want to let it go after the Sailors claimed their first section crown since 2002.
“They’re all real, real special,” Glenn said of his titles, while watching his girls celebrate at the other end of the court. “I’m so excited for my seniors because we worked so hard for four years. We talked about being in [the] CIF [final]. They earned this.”
To become champions, the Sailors showed their resiliency after dropping the opening game to the No. 2-seeded Griffins (30-8).
The two teams shared the Sunset League crown in the regular season, each winning on its home court. Saturday’s site was a neutral one and for the ultimate prize.
The opening game explained how even these two volleyball giants are on the court. Twenty times the score was tied. The game went back and forth, the equivalent of two boxers in a title bout exchanging blows.
The problem was no one wanted to go down.
“We came out knowing that it was going to be a full on war,” said Thompson after finishing with 12 kills, three service aces, three blocks and five assisted blocks. “This was the night we come out and prove ourselves.”
