Volleyball

When the Newport Beach and Orange County volleyball communities learned of Liz Lord's harsh diagnosis of brain cancer, they came together to help and support the former Newport Harbor High standout. Now those people are mourning for her. Lord died Wednesday morning. She learned of her diagnosis on April 1, 2011, when doctors told her they found an inoperable and incurable tumor. She was told the type of brain cancer she had carried an average life expectancy of 12-14 months.

Throughout Liz Lord's life, the values learned while playing sports in Newport Beach have been used many times. Now, as she fights in the biggest battle of her life, she clings to those values. Lord was known for being competitive when she played volleyball for Newport Harbor High before graduating in 2002 with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Portland. Not much has changed. She still wants to win. When she was diagnosed with brain cancer and was told that the tumor found was inoperable and incurable, Lord didn't back down.

International field The second annual UC Irvine International Men's Volleyball Tournament is scheduled Oct. 5 through 10 on the UCI campus. Teams include the Korean Air Jumbos from Korea, UPCN from Argentina, Zhejiang from China, Sada Cruzeiro from Brazil and the host Anteaters. Weekday matches will be played at Crawford Court with Saturday and Sunday competition taking place in the Bren Events Center. All-session and weekend passes are on sale now at the Bren Center Box Office (949)

The Corona del Mar High boys' volleyball team will play host to Santa Margarita tonight at 7 in a CIF Southern California Division II Regional semifinal match. The match was originally scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m., but was moved to tonight because Santa Margarita has its prom on Thursday night. The winner of tonight's match advances to Saturday's regional final, scheduled for 5 p.m. at Irvine Valley College. Adults will be charged $10 and students $5 for tonight's match at CdM. -Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High boys and girls volleyball coach Dan Glenn will host three volleyball camps in July for those looking to better his or her game. The first camp is a Junior Sailor Camp, set for Monday through Thursday from 1-3 p.m. at the Sailors' gym. The cost of the camp is $80 and the camp is for youngsters ages 8-13. A two-day, coed, four-person beach volleyball tournament will take place Saturday and July 22, beginning at 8 a.m. at the beach located on Grant Street.

Newport Harbor's Carey and Sage Hill's Dailey made it official by signing on the dotted line.Sage Hill School girls' volleyball star Cat Dailey, who verbally committed to Cal in May, signed a National Letter of Intent with the Golden Bears on Wednesday morning, Lightning coach Dan Thomassen confirmed. Wednesday was the first day of the early signing period for all sports except football, soccer, boys' water polo and field hockey. Dailey, a senior outside hitter for Sage Hill, is a two-time Daily Pilot Dream Team selection.

The Vanguard University women's volleyball team, although sporting a very similar roster to 2002, has recently added a couple of Southern California players to its lineup. Kelli Whittaker and Kristin Winant will both join the Lions, straight from the high school ranks. Whittaker comes from Long Beach and graduated from Calvary Chapel High in June. The outside hitter was a first-team All-Pacific Coast League and All-CIF selection as a senior. She was also an honor-roll student, with a 3.67 grade point average.

VOLLEYBALL: Outside hitter Poyer Poia tallied 24 kills while Kaimana Kamalani added 19 kills and 12 digs to lead host Orange Coast College to a 26-30, 30-28, 27-30, 30-20, 15-8 nonconference victory over Wisconsin-based Cardinal Stritch Friday. Down, 2-1 in games, the Pirates slammed Cardinal Stritch with a 30-20 setback in Game 4. Freshman setter Mike Murphy provided the spark the Bucs needed to get over the hump in Game 4. He stepped back to the service line and fired the team to nine consecutive points, posting a pair of aces during the stretch, to help the Pirates to a 19-10 lead.

Kyle Caldwell closed out a phenomenal high school career Thursday. Yet on graduation day, an hour before grad night, Caldwell’s final boys’ volleyball match for Newport Harbor High still ate at him. “We had to close it out and we didn’t,” said Caldwell, referring to the Sailors winning the first two games and following that up by losing the next three and the CIF Southern Section Division I championship to...

COSTA MESA - Tim Johnson the Vanguard University women's volleyball coach, has resigned after one season, according to Athletic Director Bob Wilson. Johnson began his career with the Lions two years as an assistant before taking over the head coaching job last year. The Lions, which included seven freshmen, one sophomore, four juniors and no seniors, went 3-20, 3-15 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Johnson also coaches the men's volleyball team at Golden West College and could not devote enough time to both programs, according to the Lions' media relations department.

When the Newport Beach and Orange County volleyball communities learned of Liz Lord's harsh diagnosis of brain cancer, they came together to help and support the former Newport Harbor High standout. Now those people are mourning for her. Lord died Wednesday morning. She learned of her diagnosis on April 1, 2011, when doctors told her they found an inoperable and incurable tumor. She was told the type of brain cancer she had carried an average life expectancy of 12-14 months.

Cinnamon Sary found it hard to stand on her own two feet at the end of her final volleyball match on the Newport Harbor High court. The senior needed a hand to get up, yet no one was around at first to help her. The problem was practically everyone else in the gym rushed the court to celebrate an upset win of Mater Dei. The Sailors had just qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA girls' title match and the reason why laid smack...

Corona del Mar High senior middle blocker Britton Taylor shared the Pacific Coast League MVP award in girls' volleyball after helping the Sea Kings claim their sixth straight league championship and advance to the CIF Southern Section Division I-A championship match. Taylor is one of four CdM players earning first-team honors. The other Sea Kings are senior libero Mary McKennon, junior setter Kelsey Humphries and junior outside hitter Grace Kennedy. The foursome led CdM (32-5, 10-0 in league)

Dan Fisher's cell phone still starts with area-code 808, even though he moved from Hawaii to take the women's volleyball coaching job at Concordia University several months ago. He really hasn't had time to do much of anything other than coach, virtually hopping off the airplane and landing in his new digs at the Irvine campus just in time to meet his players, the administration and get started. The Eagles had a remarkable season, going 18-0 in winning the Golden State Athletic Conference and rising to the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA poll.

The Corona del Mar High girls' volleyball team won the coin flip and will play host to Marlborough in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I-A playoffs Thursday at 7 p.m. CdM (28-3), the No. 2 seed, swept Brea Olinda in the first round. Marlborough beat visiting Arroyo Grande, 25-19, 11-25, 20-25, 25-22, 16-14. Newport Harbor (22-8) will play host to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in the CIF Division 1-AA second round Thursday at 7 p.m. Sage Hill won a coin flip and will play host to Desert Hot Springs in the CIF Division IV-AA second round Thursday at 7 p.m. The Lightning (14-3)

Newport Harbor High senior standout Alex Holbrook has quit the girls' volleyball team, she said in a Facebook message Saturday night. She declined to comment further. Holbrook, an outside hitter, did not show up to Newport Harbor's home victory against Marina Friday, Sailors Coach Dan Glenn said. She left in the middle of Thursday's practice, Glenn said. "She wasn't too happy with me," Glenn said. He said he has not spoken to her since and was unaware she quit the team.

Breaking up was hard to do for Annie Kim, but getting back together has been that much sweeter. Kim and volleyball are together again, a harmonious reunion that is commencing at Irvine Valley College, where the Lasers are ranked No. 18 in the state and Kim is a big part of it. Her play in IVC's victory over No. 7-ranked Fullerton earlier in the week was pivotal at a pivotal point in the season. A 5-foot-8 outside hitter, Kim had 15 kills, three blocks and two aces while hitting .320 in the match.

Concordia University women's volleyball coach Dan Fisher said a couple months ago he didn't expect to have it all "figured out" this season, the first at the school for himself and his coaching staff. Coming from the University of Hawaii where he was the associated head coach, Fisher, 35, knew he was coming to a good program with support from the administration and talent on the team, but he also knew it was a very young team. There are no seniors and only four juniors on the roster.

Marissa Booker made one of the most difficult decisions in her life three months ago. Three years ago, she never saw herself making such a bold move. Booker said goodbye to Vanguard University, a place that allowed her to grow so much as a student, player and coach. She earned her degree and master's in education at Vanguard. She starred in volleyball at the school for three years. She coached at the school for five years, the final three as the women's head coach. The opportunity to pursue her dream is why she left.

Dan Fisher is the kind of guy who has gotten used to hitting the ground running. And coming to Concordia University as the school's new women's volleyball head coach, he's at it again. Fisher has taken over the program from Kyle Kvasnicka, and the Eagles got their new coach a victory in their first match Thursday, sweeping Oklahoma Baptist in three games in the Cougar Classic at Azusa Pacific University. Concordia finished the season-opening tournament with two wins in three matches.