Newport Harbor’s perfect boys’ volleyball season continues in playoffs

After an undefeated regular season, the next goal for the Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team is to win its first CIF Southern Section title since 1999.

The top-seeded Sailors began their run at home on Tuesday by sweeping Northwood 25-16, 25-19, 25-11 in a Division 1 first-round match.

Newport Harbor (29-0), ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps.com, will play at Servite (17-12) in the second round on Thursday at 6 p.m. Servite swept host El Segundo 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 in the first round on Tuesday.

The Sailors stayed perfect thanks to junior setter Joe Karlous and his 32 assist and five blocks.

“We [apply] a lot of pressure on teams,” Karlous said. “We stay consistent and we don’t really have that many weaknesses. We are pretty strong in every position. We work hard in practice. We have [been] building up a lot just for the playoffs.”

Dayne Chalmers led the Sailors with 13 kills to go along with four blocks, while UCLA commit Cole Pender added seven kills and four service aces.

Newport Harbor’s Jack Higgs had six kills, and Caden Garrido and Ohio State-bound senior Ethan Talley each had four kills.

“It just starts all over right now,” Newport Harbor coach Rocky Ciarelli said. “Everybody that thinks they have a chance to win feels the pressure. Some teams have won this and some teams haven’t won in a while. It’s still pressure on everybody.”

Ciarelli was able to play his reserves for the majority of the third set against the Timberwolves (12-11).

“I thought we had a great season,” said Northwood coach Darren Tsai, whose team shared second place with Beckman in the Pacific Coast League, finishing behind Corona del Mar. “We played really well and I thought we improved tremendously from the very beginning to the very end. Today’s game was a tough one for us. That’s a very good team across the net. I’m proud of the way we played.”

Newport Harbor faces a familiar opponent in Servite next. The Sailors swept the Friars at the Best of the West Invitational in San Diego on March 10 en route to winning the prestigious tournament.

“We just have to stay focused,” Karlous said. “We have to stay consistent. We just have to keep on doing what we have been doing. It’s worked all year and we will keep improving on that.”

MANNY ALVAREZ is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @MAlvarez02