Volleyball

In a span of nine months, Eryn Leja has gone from assistant to head coach of the Vanguard University women's volleyball team. Leja has been promoted to become the Lions' coach, Vanguard's sports information department announced Friday. She became the Lions' head coach because of the resignation of former Vanguard head coach Marissa (Cothran) Booker, a former Newport Harbor High and Lions' player who stepped down to accept the head coaching job of the Corona del Mar girls' volleyball team.

Brent William Bradley November 14, 1965- April 12, 2011 Brent William Bradley, Costa Mesa, passed away on April 12, 2011, from a fall while visiting Lahaina, Maui. He was 45. Brent was born, and raised in Newport Beach, California. He attended Corona del Mar High School for 2 years eventually transferring and graduating with the Newport Harbor High School class of 1984. There, he played football and volleyball. He also played on the Balboa Bay Club’s volleyball team. Everyone from the local grocery store to the neighborhood coffee house knew Brent and he knew them all by name.

For the second time in the last three years, someone with ties to rival Newport Harbor High will guide the Corona del Mar girls' volleyball program. Marissa Booker accepted the Sea Kings' job offer on Friday. She said she was unsure on Thursday if she would accept the position to become the Sea Kings' walk-on coach because she wanted a teaching position, but Vanguard University announced that Booker stepped down as its women's volleyball coach to take over at CdM. Booker replaces Darryl Gan, who like Booker is a Newport Harbor graduate.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — UC Santa Barbara middle blocker Dylan Davis, a Corona del Mar High product, has led the Gauchos men's volleyball team to the brink of history. Davis had a career-high 15 kills and set a tournament hitting record Thursday night as the No. 4-seeded Gauchos stunned top-seeded USC, 29-27, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18, in an NCAA Tournament semifinal at Penn State. UC Santa Barbara will play Ohio State on Saturday in the NCAA championship match. The Gauchos (18-14)

Marissa Booker, the Vanguard University women's volleyball coach, said Thursday that Corona del Mar High has offered her the girls' volleyball head coaching job. Booker, who has been in charge of the Lions for the past three seasons, said she is split on whether she plans to accept the walk-on position. Booker said she is a credentialed special education teacher, but that CdM does not currently have any teaching openings in that department. Booker said it would be difficult to coach without having a paid teaching position.

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.

The NCAA men's volleyball championship has a definite Newport-Mesa feel with no fewer than a dozen players dotting the rosters of the four participants, who open play in Thursday's semifinals at Penn State. The most prominent locals are the UC Santa Barbara starting middle blocker duo of Scott Slaughter and Dylan Davis, both Corona del Mar High products. Slaughter, a 6-foot-7 senior, led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a .505 regular-season hitting percentage en route to second-team all-conference recognition.

There's no crying in volleyball. At least, that's the way Tom Pestolesi likes to run the volleyball program at Irvine Valley College. And who could argue. The Lasers won the California Community College Athletic Assn. men's volleyball title last week, their third state championship in the past five years. "What's worked for us is a style we use here that is not super emotional," said Pestolesi, who is the co-head coach for the men's team at IVC and also the head coach of the women's team.

I pull up the Daily Pilot at work on occasion from my new home in New Orleans to check in on Newport. It helps me to feel connected to friends and family in my hometown. Today it was such a treasure to read the article, "From the Sport Desk: Special night for Glenn" (April 4). I knew that there was a party planned to honor Coach Dan Glenn this past weekend. I very much wanted to be there to celebrate with him and all of the people whose lives he has touched. Unfortunately, distance and circumstances kept me away.

After hammering shots with his right arm in six matches in a four-day span, Cody Caldwell felt sore at practice earlier this week. He was still recovering from all the action at the Orange County Championships. On Monday, he led the Newport Harbor High boys' volleyball team to a runner-up finish in the top division at the tournament. Two days later, mentally, Caldwell was not in the Newport Harbor gym toward the end of the practice. Coach Dan Glenn called him out for tuning out. Glenn was not instructing Caldwell, but he checked to see if the best player on the court was paying attention.