Southern Section Volleyball Finals : Loyola Beats Newport Harbor, Wins 4-A Title

The strategy was simple and the execution perfect.

The Loyola High volleyball team beat Newport Harbor, 15-11, 15-7, 15-6, for the Southern Section 4-A Division championship Saturday night at Westminster High by overpowering the Sailors at the net.

“Our strength is hitting and blocking. Nothing too fancy, but that’s what we threw at them,” Loyola Coach Roger Yano said.

And that’s what worked. The Cubs had five players with eight or more kills, led by Jimmy Klein’s 13.

“They are a really solid team,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “Other teams, we’ve been able to pick up their weaknesses, but this team had few.”

Loyola, seeded No. 2 in the 4-A, trailed in the third game, 4-3. But after taking a 7-5 lead, the Cubs scored eight of the last nine points to win the match. Loyola finished an undefeated season with 20 wins while Newport Harbor fell to 14-4.

In the 3-A final, Arcadia defeated Glendale, 15-13, 15-13, 15-3, behind the strong serving of Ty Ernt. Arcadia won all five of its playoff matches in three games.

Arcadia, the top-seeded team in the 3-A and winner of 17 consecutive matches, won all four meetings between the two Central League teams this year.

Ernt, a 5-11 senior setter, served for 15 points with only one miss.

“Our advantage this time was serving,” Arcadia Coach Chuck Freberg said. “And he was a key to our serving.”

Arcadia (17-2) fell behind, 9-2, in the first match, but rallied behind the serving of Ernt. The Apaches scored the first seven points of the second game and the first 10 points of the third to win the match.

“There’s not much difference between these two teams and with their experience, they were mentally stronger,” Glendale Coach Jack Trotter said.

The Apaches, which lost to Loyola in the 3-A championship last year, started four seniors. Glendale (17-4) had three juniors and a sophomore starting.