Carlos Rivera doesn’t pass up lone chance to represent Newport Harbor this year

Carlos Rivera spent his senior year at Newport Harbor High as a coach, not as a player as he had hoped.

The reason why Rivera coached volleyball, instead of playing it, had nothing to do with his abilities. Rivera has signed with Long Beach State to continue his playing career, and he has represented the Puerto Rican national team.

About a year ago, the CIF Southern Section denied Rivera another year of eligibility. As a result, the 18-year-old turned to coaching. He joined the Newport Harbor junior varsity boys’ volleyball team as an assistant, and during varsity matches, he would help on the bench as well.

Rivera’s involvement with Newport Harbor’s program was something Dan Glenn, an assistant varsity coach, never forgot. Glenn wanted to reward Rivera.

Earlier this week, Glenn said he approached Rivera, who is one of Glenn’s economic students. He said he asked Rivera if he wanted to play one more time in high school.

At first, Rivera said he wasn’t sure what to think.

“It took me [by surprise],” Rivera said.

While Rivera was a senior academically this school year, he knew he did not play a role on the court in the Sailors’ run to an outright Sunset League title, the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs and the semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoffs.

But the opportunity to play again was one Rivera, a 6-foot-3 setter, could not pass up. Rivera came out to represent the Sailors as a player this year, and it happened during the last match at Newport Harbor on Friday.

Rivera started in the 40th annual Dave Mohs Memorial Orange County High School All-Star Volleyball Match. Rivera knew many of the talented players on the court. He had played against many of them last year, his only eligible year with the Sailors.

Rivera showed a little rust, but he performed well. It helped that some of Rivera’s teammates on the North team were also his teammates on Balboa Bay Volleyball Club’s 18-and-under team.

Rivera teamed up with those local club teammates, Newport Harbor middle blocker Spencer Lawrence and setter Landon Monroe, Corona del Mar middle blocker Mitch Haly, outside hitter Clay Dickinson and middle blocker Jake Meyer, and Edison outside hitter Kyle McCauley.

But it was some of Rivera’s Balboa Bay teammates playing for the South that prevailed 25-20, 26-24, 12-15. The match was going to go three sets, no matter that the South won the first two sets.

Beckman outside hitter Spencer Olivier, a Long Beach State signee, earned the MVP award, finishing with nine kills, one solo block and one service ace, while Laguna Beach outside hitter Pete Obradovich and libero Cole Paxson helped the South beat the North.

While the outcome wasn’t what Rivera wanted, Glenn and Newport Harbor coach Rocky Ciarelli said it was great for Rivera to play.

“He was one of the best players in the county last year,” Glenn said of Rivera, who made the All-Sunset League first team and All-Orange County third team in 2016. “It’s all about recognizing all these kids.

“It was just a bummer for him that he didn’t get to play [for us in the regular and postseason] this year.”

Glenn said Rivera saw his hardship denied by CIF because Rivera competed as a freshman in New Jersey in 2013, as a sophomore at Marina in 2014 and as a junior at Marina in 2015. Then a family emergency forced Rivera to move to Puerto Rico in the spring of 2015, making him a senior for the 2016 season when he returned to the county and transferred to Newport Harbor.

Rivera said he has moved past his unfortunate situation, accepting why he was ineligible to play for the Sailors this year.

This is the time of the year Rivera will get to compete.

Next for Rivera is another big event. He and many of those same teammates and opponents in the OC All-Star Match are preparing with Balboa Bay for the upcoming USA Junior National Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The 18-and-under open division tournament runs from from July 1 to 4.

A year ago, Rivera was a member of the Balboa Bay 17-and-under team that won the open division title.

Before the upcoming national tournament, Rivera said he was thankful to share the court with many of the best players in the county, doing so in the final high school volleyball event of the year.

“Even though I couldn’t play my last season of high school, I could still at least put a game in,” Rivera said.

In the girls’ OC All-Star Match, the North defeated the South, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9.

North’s Cassidy Dennison, an Edison outside hitter bound for Cal Baptist University, finished with seven kills and took home the MVP award.

The North featured four other local players: Edison outside hitter Hannah Phair and libero Dani Dennison, CdM setter Alexa Bonanno and Estancia middle blocker McKenna Covey, while the South had Sage Hill outside hitter Jamie Dailey.

Matt Skolnik, who led Edison to the CIF State Division I crown last December, coached the North.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP