Boys’ Volleyball: Tars still perfect in Sunset
Almost three weeks ago, the Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team played Huntington Beach on a neutral court. The winner earned a spot in the Orange County Championships Division 1 final.
The Sailors faced the Oilers again on Friday, and they moved closer to getting to the prize that’s more important: a Sunset League crown.
UCLA junior commit Cole Pender finished with 15 kills, six digs, four service aces and one solo block in Newport Harbor’s 25-20, 25-17, 15-25, 25-23 win at home.
A year ago, these two programs shared first in league. Newport Harbor, ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, is in the driver seat to finish all alone in first place for the first time in six years.
The Sailors closed out the first round of league 5-0. The No. 9 Oilers, who played their sixth league match, fell to 4-2.
“That puts us in good shape,” Newport Harbor Coach Rocky Ciarelli said. “We still got to play Edison and Huntington Beach [in the second round], and Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley are very good, too. There are no easy matches in this league.”
The Sailors (20-3 overall) made it look easy in their first four league contests, sweeping each one. They dropped their first set in league, losing their composure early in the third set against the Oilers.
The Oilers had more fans in the stands than the host school.
While Newport Harbor was unable to sweep, it closed out a tough Huntington Beach side in four. Dayne Chalmers, a sophomore, produced 12 kills, half of them coming in Game 4.
Ohio State-bound senior middle blocker Spencer Lawrence added seven kills, three solo blocks and four block assists for the Sailors. Ethan Talley, a junior committed to Ohio State, had six kills, two blocks and a block assist.
Landon Monroe played well down the stretch, recording three of his five kills in the fourth set. Monroe also set the offense, and Drew Johnston sealed the match with a kill.
“They’re a good team. They’ve got a couple of great coaches,” said Huntington Beach Coach Craig Pazanti, referring to Ciarelli and his assistant, Dan Glenn, who have more than 1,000 career wins between them. “I played for Rocky when I played in high school at Huntington Beach. To watch him and to be able to compete on the same level with him is awesome.”
The first set between Ciarelli’s Sailors and Pazanti’s Oilers was remarkably close. Thirteen times Game 1 was even.
Pender helped the Sailors tie it at 19-19 with a kill. Then Pender served tough during a 6-0 run by Newport Harbor, coming up with an ace and he delivered another kill. The other kill came from Lawrence, who had four in the opening set, while Chalmers had a block.
After taking the second set, the Sailors appeared on their way to another sweep in league. But Alex Anastassiades, a 6-foot-8 senior heading to Long Beach State, brought the Oilers back in Game 3.
Anastassiades collected four of his match-high 17 kills in the third set, and Noah Franklin (13 kills) and Mitchell Bollinger (10) turned up their play as well. Aidan Knipe, who totaled 33 assists, moved the ball around.
The Oilers avoided getting swept by Newport Harbor, as they did in the best-of-three semifinal against them during the OC Championships at Edison High on March 18.
Next up for Huntington Beach is a league match with Los Alamitos on Monday, and the following day it heads out for the Clash of the Titans showcase in Hawaii, where it plays Honolulu ‘Iolani on Friday and Honolulu Punahou on Saturday.
As for the Sailors, they’re on spring break next week. They won’t have any time off in league, as they play at Marina on Tuesday and play host to Los Alamitos on Friday.
“If we play like that, nobody could beat us,” said Pender, whose team bounced back with two wins in league this week since losing the Battle of the Bay rivalry at Corona del Mar last Saturday. “We try to forget about that [three-set loss to the Sea Kings], but we use that as motivation. We’ll see them again when it gets to CIF.”
Twitter: @ByDCP
