Volleyball

HUNTINGTON BEACH - The high school boys' volleyball showdown between Newport Harbor and host Huntington Beach began earlier than expected on Thursday. It finished that way, too. The match that featured undefeated Sunset League teams ended with the Oilers sweeping it 25-17, 25-23, 25-14. They can relax now and look forward to their upcoming spring break. They're 3-0, perfect in league. They're also going away to a perfect place during their break. While the Oilers travel to Honolulu for the Kamehameha Cup, a three-day tournament, the Sailors are staying home.

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Bullying has become a cause celebre, with stereotypical notions of intimidating actions and strong-arm tactics catching fire from society at large. But the sanctity of using physical and mental toughness as a means of showing superiority is not only protected, but celebrated in athletic competition. So it is that the Orange Coast College men's volleyball team found itself in position to look up to rival Golden West, after experiencing the equivalent of being knocked to the pavement, posterior first.

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Friday marked the second time in four days Newport Harbor High faced Edison in Sunset League play. It wasn't supposed to play out this way, the same two boys' volleyball teams competing against each in such a short period. Newport Harbor Coach Steve Astor called the start of the league schedule odd, but he's glad it worked out this way. "I feel kind of fortunate we get to play them twice early because they're going to keep getting better and better," said Astor, who had a good reason to say that.

COSTA MESA - Ricardo doMonte is the new boys' volleyball coach at Costa Mesa High. The person who referred him to the job is his friend Paul Muñoz, the coach at the rival school, Estancia. Muñoz might be regretting his decision after Thursday. The new man in charge of the Mustangs led them to their first win of the season, a 31-33, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15 result coming in an Orange Coast League opener at Estancia. Through eight matches, the Eagles are winless. It took the Mustangs seven matches to end their losing skid.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Corona del Mar High boys' volleyball team hasn't practiced much since the start of the week. The campus lost power on Monday, cancelling the Sea Kings' practice. Coming off six matches at the Best of the West Tournament in Poway on Friday and Saturday, Coach Steve Conti drew up a short list of things he wanted his Sea Kings to work on. They had a nonleague home match to get ready for against Edison on Wednesday. They scrambled on Tuesday to find a place to prepare.

SAN DIEGO - The Corona del Mar High boys' volleyball team won two of three matches at Alliant University on Friday to finish second in its pool at the Best of the West Tournament. Coach Steve Conti's Sea Kings advance to the 16-team Gold Division playoffs on Saturday at the Epic Volleyball Club in Poway. Eric Ctvrtlik had eight kills and Joey Martino seven in a 25-19, 21-29 triumph over a Valencia West Ranch program that boasted two 6-foot-11 players and another 6-9. Matt Ctvrtlik had 10 assists for the Sea Kings.

IRVINE - In a showdown of the nation's men's volleyball elite, two was certainly better than one Friday night. No. 2-ranked BYU consistently came up with more answers than top-ranked UCI, enabling the Cougars to rally for a 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 15-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory in front of 2,906 at the Bren Events Center. UCI (15-4, 12-4 in conference), which came in on an 11-match winning streak that began after a four-game setback at BYU on Jan. 18, handled the visitors in the opening two sets and held leads of 14-8 and 19-14 in Game 3. But the Cougars (12-3, 11-2)

NEWPORT BEACH - At first glance, Steve Astor doesn't look like the Steve Astor from his first season as the Newport Harbor High boys' volleyball coach. "That isn't the first time," Astor said he's gotten that response. Astor said he has dropped about 100 pounds since last season. The facial hair is gone, too. You have to do a double take to recognize the 28-year-old Astor. Another thing you had to do a double take on was the Sailors' first result of the season. While the coach looked good, his team didn't on Friday at home against Laguna Beach.