SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Volleyball Roundup : Newport Harbor Outlasts Woodbridge

Five games and 2 1/2 hours of schizophrenic volleyball ended, fittingly enough, with a spike hit out of bounds.

The boys’ volleyball teams of Newport Harbor and Woodbridge high schools played a streaky, sometimes-sloppy Southern Section 4-A quarterfinal playoff match that Newport Harbor eventually won, 15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 15-8, 15-12, Tuesday night at Woodbridge.

Newport Harbor (12-5), which entered the playoffs as the No. 3 team out of the Sea View League, plays No. 1 seeded Mira Costa Thursday in one of the 4-A semifinal games.

The fifth and decisive game was a microcosm of the match. Woodbridge broke out to an early 2-0 lead and Newport Harbor tied the score at 2-2.

Woodbridge, with a kill, then a block by Mike Manthei, went up, 4-2. Newport Harbor rallied for four consecutive points, two coming on Woodbridge errors.

With Newport Harbor leading, 8-5, Woodbridge rallied for three points, two coming on Tom Shankin kills, to tie the score at 8-8.

Newport Harbor was off again, this time on a 6-2 run, sparked by Chris Lee’s two kills and one block. Newport Harbor was at game- and match-point, 14-10, when Woodbridge started yet another rally. Kills by Shankin--he had 17--then Manthei--he had 19--made the score, 14-12. But Newport Harbor setter Alex Opoulos got his team a crucial sideout when he dumped a ball over for a kill.

With Billy Nguyen (15 kills) serving, Woodbridge’s set went to Scott Seymour, who had been one of its best hitters on the night with 17 kills. Seymour swung, but the ball sailed just long and Newport Harbor had the match.

“We’ve played like this all year long,” said Dan Glenn, Newport Harbor coach. “We give up points in streaks, and then we get some points in streaks.”

Woodbridge had a 12-6 lead in the first game, only to watch Newport Harbor cut the lead to 12-11. A Manthei block--he had four--gave Woodbridge a 13-11 lead. But two Woodbridge errors and a Will Allison block put Newport Harbor ahead, 14-13. Newport Harbor won the game on a Nguyen kill.

From that, Woodbridge managed to come back and win the next two games. In the second, Woodbridge trailed, 4-0, but ran off 10 consecutive points. Newport Harbor actually tied the game at 12-12, but Woodbridge scored three more points, the final point on a Seymour service ace, to win.

Newport Harbor, which had led 7-3, only to be tied, scored the last six points in game four to force the decisive game.

The streaky nature of the match had a lot to do with each team’s style and makeup, both practically the same. Woodbridge has eight underclassmen on its team, Newport Harbor seven. Each team makes up for the lack of one great hitter by distributing the ball around. Newport Harbor had six players with six or more kills, Woodbridge had five.

Monday, Woodbridge Coach Steve Stratos described playing Newport Harbor as “a mirror.”

Glenn couldn’t agree more.

“They play just like we do,” he said. “They were making some unbelievable digs, the kinds of digs we usually make for points.”

In another 4-A quarterfinal match:

Laguna Beach 3, Santa Monica 2--Second-seeded Laguna Beach hung on to win, 15-5, 16-14, 15-17, 14-16, 15-12, at home. Laguna Beach (19-1) plays third-seeded Corona del Mar in a semifinal match Thursday at a site to be determined today. Corona del Mar swept Edison, 15-8, 15-9, 15-7, also Tuesday.