1 Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball: Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball: The Sailors were forced to share the Sunset League championship with Los Alamitos, but Glenn and his veteran unit had no trouble being selfish during the postseason.
The Tars defeated league co-champion Los Alamitos in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA final, then took aim at Glenn’s fifth state crown in his 24 seasons at the helm.
The state title went through Goleta, where Newport Harbor upset Dos Pueblos in the Southern California Regional final, before easily dispatching Salinas in the state final at UCI.
Katey Thompson, the Sunset League Co-Player of the Year who repeated as Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year, and Kirby Burnham were the most highly decorated of the Sailors players, both earning first-team All-CIF Division I recognition.
Thompson, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, will continue her career at UC Santa Barbara, while Burnham, a 6-2 outside hitter, is bound for USC.
Other standouts included senior libero Kelly Heenan, sophomore setter Cinnamon Sary, junior outside hitter Maddy Brown, senior Mackenzi Campbell and sophomore middle blocker Claire Castillo.
Glenn, 50, who was diagnosed with iris melanoma — a rare form of cancer in his right eye — in February, guided the team to a 33-6 record. It was the program’s first state title since 1999.
The section crown was the seventh for Glenn with the girls’ team.
2 UC Irvine men’s volleyball: UC Irvine men’s volleyball: Coach John Speraw’s Anteaters established themselves among the elite programs in America by winning their second national title in three seasons.
UCI won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season title, but was embarrassed in the MPSF Tournament by USC.
