Experienced Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball wins opener at Laguna Beach

The Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team could look back on last season with fond memories.

The Sailors found themselves in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals, and the CIF Southern California Regional Division I semifinals featured a rare opportunity to play Battle of the Bay rival Corona del Mar in a postseason match.

That was certainly a season worth remembering, but with many of those players returning, the Sailors are looking forward, not backwards.

When asked what the goal for this year’s team should be, junior setter Joe Karlous said, “Win everything.”

Junior outside hitter Dayne Chalmers tried to dial it back a notch, offering the time-honored cliché of needing to take it one game at a time, but the genie was already out of the bottle. The Sailors are keeping no secrets about their hearts’ desire this year.

“The goal for a lot of teams, I’m sure, is to win CIF, so that’s our goal,” Sailors coach Rocky Ciarelli said. “They understand that. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

Newport Harbor looked strong in sweeping host Laguna Beach 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 in its nonleague season opener on Tuesday night.

The Sailors have swept the Breakers (3-4) in three consecutive meetings.

Chalmers had a team-high 17 kills for the Sailors. Karlous had 28 assists and two service aces, and UCLA signee Cole Pender added nine kills.

Newport Harbor is also bringing back junior libero Ryan Schroeder and senior opposite Ethan Talley as significant contributors to last year’s team.

“It’s really nice,” Karlous said of working with much of the same supporting cast around him. “In club, we all play at different clubs, so it’s good to come back and see what we all learned together. It’s really exciting for us this year.”

Ciarelli expects junior outside hitter Jack Higgs to take a step forward this year. He was on the varsity team as a sophomore, but he did not see a lot of action. Higgs had six kills and a block.

At times, a battle broke out between Chalmers and Laguna Beach’s Samuel Burgi to see who could hit the ball the hardest. Burgi, who has also signed with UCLA, had a match-high 18 kills with six digs.

Asked how he felt after sending a number of powerful swings in the Sailors’ direction, Burgi said, “I need some more, honestly. I didn’t get enough.”

Chalmers was up for the challenge, but he added that his defense needs some work.

“I’ve got to work on my block a little bit, but [Burgi] played great,” Chalmers said. “Joe set me well, so we got some good offense going.”

Senior middle blocker Bryce Campanelli had six kills and 2½ blocks for the Breakers. Senior outside hitter Joshua McManus also had six kills, the lefty-swinging Geste Bianchi had five kills, and junior setter Ayrton Garcia had 31 assists.

Laguna Beach has already played in the Tesoro Tournament. Burgi believes that tournaments and a tough nonleague schedule are necessary to keep his team sharp.

Although the Breakers opposite is a senior, Burgi says that he is all for Laguna Beach moving to the Sunset League after this season.

“I think that’s a much better change for the school,” Burgi said. “Our [current] league was no competition. I think the team kind of gets worse during [Orange Coast] league [play] if we don’t try our hardest in practice because we don’t really get good reps in games.”

The Breakers remain in the Orange Coast League for now, and Burgi says his team will make it a goal to continue its reign of dominance in its present league.

“We expect to win most of our preseason games, but in league, we’re trying to not drop any sets,” Burgi said.

Laguna Beach has won 88 consecutive Orange Coast League matches and 11 straight league titles.

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner