PREP VOLLEYBALL : Woodbridge Stops Newport Harbor

After a sluggish start in the teams’ Sea View League match, unranked Woodbridge was able to recover for an improbable 12-15, 2-15, 15-12, 16-14, 15-13 victory over seventh-ranked Newport Harbor Friday night at Newport Harbor High.

Newport Harbor (3-3, 3-1 in league) committed 12 serving errors in the third game and eight in the fourth, allowing Woodbridge (3-5, 3-1) to get back in the match.

“It definitely made a difference,” third-year Woodbridge Coach Rich Polk said. “If it wasn’t for the missed serves, we would have been out of here in three games and we would have lost.”

Woodbridge appeared to have the match in hand in the fifth game of the 2-hour 16-minute match. The Warriors took a 9-2 lead before Newport Harbor responded. But later, Newport Harbor got a side out and then made it, 8-13, on outside hitter Mitch McCoy’s kill. The Sailors were then able to rally, coming within three points of Woodbridge at 13-10.

Finally, it seemed the Sailors would prevail after all. Newport Harbor held side out and a kill by McCoy down the line tied the score at 13.

Woodbridge responded with Gary Osborne smashing the ball down the line for the Warriors’ final side out. A kill by Kevin Reid, who had five in the match, and a long return by McCoy on the next serve ended the match.

“It’s just one of those things,” said Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn, who has coached the Sailors for seven years. “In the third game, we missed five out of six serves in a row.

“It is just a tough loss for us . . . We had our chances, though, and it was good to see that we battled back.”

Unlike the fifth game, the fourth game was close. The score was tied at 14 before middle blocker Don Coleman gave Woodbridge a side out. Newport Harbor’s Eric Vallely’s kill was called wide and Todd Jameson missed a return to end the game.

Polk said the key to the match was that the Warriors didn’t give up after losing badly in the second game.

“Newport Harbor was serving very well and its blocking was clicking,” he said. “We were just out of sync. All I can say is we played with a lot of heart.”

McCoy led with 27 kills and Vallely added 16. Gary Osborne led Woodbridge with 19 kills, with six in the fifth game.

In other Sea View League matches:

Corona del Mar 3, Tustin 0--Brook Hoppe had 13 kills and six blocks for visiting Corona del Mar (4-3, 3-1) which won, 15-13, 15-6, 15-6. Brad Gallahan had nine kills and five blocks for the Sea Kings. Josh Rasmussen had 13 kills for Tustin (2-4, 1-3).

Irvine 3, Santa Margarita 1--Greg Wakeham had 25 kills for visiting Irvine (5-2, 4-0), which won, 12-15, 15-2, 15-9, 15-8. Santa Margarita is 1-3 in league.

University 3, Saddleback 0--David Rados had seven kills for host University, which won, 15-1, 15-8, 15-3. David Duncan added six kills and six blocks for University (1-5, 1-3).

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 3, Rancho Alamitos 0--Brad Huss had 14 kills for host La Quinta (8-1, 5-0) which won, 15-13, 15-9, 15-13. Teofilo Tifrea had 18 kills for Rancho Alamitos (4-2, 2-2).

Los Amigos 3, Garden Grove 2--Keith Tran had 20 kills to lead host Los Amigos (4-2, 3-1) which won, 15-9, 15-12, 2-15, 8-15, 15-12. Quan Nguyen added 14 kills and 11 blocks for the Lobos. Garden Grove is 2-2 in league.

Santiago 3, Pacifica 2--Sam Ching had 22 kills and Ramon Godoy had 11 blocks for host Santiago (2-3 in league), which won, 12-15, 7-15, 15-12, 15-11, 15-13.

In the Sunset League:

Fountain Valley 3, Ocean View 0--June Kang had 25 kills for host Fountain Valley (5-1, 3-1), which won, 15-4, 15-5, 15-8.

Huntington Beach 3, Westminster 0--Matt Poston had six kills for host Huntington Beach (6-0, 4-0), which won, 15-4, 15-7, 15-5.

Marina 3, Servite 0--Mike Wirthlin and Mark McAuley each had 11 kills for visiting Marina (1-5, 1-3), which won, 15-5, 15-3, 18-16.

Santa Ana 3, Edison 2--John Boyd had 32 kills and Carlos Boloanos had 29 kills for visiting Santa Ana, which won, 15-6, 9-15, 15-10, 11-15, 15-11. The Saints defeated Edison in boys’ volleyball for the first time in school history. Edison was ranked eighth in the county.

In nonleague matches:

Calvary Chapel 3, El Modena 0--Philip Schlidts had 15 kills and setter Matt Wright had 38 assists for host Calvary Chapel (4-0), which won, 15-9, 15-13, 16-14.