SEA VIEW LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar Beats Newport Harbor Again

About the last thing Corona del Mar girls’ volleyball Coach Lance Stewart wanted was another five-game match with Newport Harbor.

“My wife’s expecting a baby and she’s three days overdue,” Stewart said before the match. “This can’t go five games. She’ll have the baby right here.”

But it was the Sea Kings, top-ranked in the nation, who delivered Tuesday night, beating the Sailors, 15-13, 15-8, 9-15, 15-7, in a Sea View League match at Newport Harbor.

Corona del Mar (12-0, 11-0 in league) defeated Newport Harbor (10-3, 9-2) for the second time in a month. In the first match, Newport Harbor sophomore Misty May had 35 kills, but the Sailors lost in five games.

May had a match-high 23 kills Tuesday night, 10 coming in the Sailors’ third-game victory. Corona del Mar’s blocking, particularly that of Kim Coleman and Allison Englebrecht, kept May from dominating the match as she did in the first meeting.

“Misty hurt us (hitting) down the line the first time we played,” Stewart said. “She’s going to get her kills, and she got them.”

Corona del Mar countered with a balanced attack.

Jennifer Stroffe had 18 kills, Lori Newcomer 13 and Englebrecht added 10 kills and four blocks. Coleman, who split time at setter with Kristin Campbell, had six kills and four blocks.

Corona del Mar rallied from deficits of 7-2 and 13-12 in the first game. Campbell ended the match with an ace.

The Sea Kings dominated the second game, racing to leads of 4-0 and 10-3 behind three kills each by Newcomer and Stroffe. The Sea Kings’ blocking stopped May, who didn’t have a kill in the game.

But May responded in the third game with 10 kills and four of her five aces. She scored five points--three on kills and two on jump-serve aces--as Newport Harbor pulled away from a 7-7 tie.

Sophomore Melissa Schutz added 19 kills for Newport Harbor, ranked third in the county, 15th in the state and fifth in Southern Section Division I.

The two-hour 10-minute match drew a crowd of 1,000, including Steve Timmons, a three-time Olympian and Newport Harbor alum.

Irvine 3, University 0--Johanna Pursley and Kristi McNitt each had 11 kills for Irvine (8-7, 6-5) in a 15-8, 15-1, 15-10 victory.

Woodbridge 3, Tustin 0--Nicole Quinn had 13 kills for visiting Woodbridge (8-7, 7-4), which won, 15-9, 15-13, 15-0.