SEA VIEW LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Newport Harbor Beats No. 5 Irvine

Newport Harbor volleyball Coach Dan Glenn wondered which Sailor team would show up for a Sea View League match against Irvine Tuesday night.

Would it be the Sailors who started the season 0-2 and later blew a two-game lead in a loss to league rival Woodbridge?

Or would it be the team that’s challenging for the league championship?

Glenn had the answer after an hour and 25 minutes--all the time it took for unranked Newport Harbor to sweep Irvine, ranked fifth in Orange County.

A change in Newport Harbor’s offensive scheme and strong play from outside hitter Mitch McCoy and setter Eric Vallely boosted the Sailors to a 15-12, 15-12, 15-3 victory at Irvine.

“That was a big ‘sigh’ right there,” Glenn said. “This team has been so up and down this season, you never know what will happen. I told the players that we were in control (of our future) in this one.”

McCoy had 15 kills and Vallely added 46 assists as the Sailors (6-3 overall) moved into a three-way tie for the league lead with Irvine and Woodbridge at 6-1.

“I thought we played pretty well and Irvine didn’t play as well as they usually do,” Glenn said. “This was a lot bigger match for us than it was for them. They can afford a loss. But the thing about this league is that there are four or five other teams that could beat us.”

The Sailors played probably their best match this season after Glenn switched from a two-setter lineup to using Vallely a setter with five hitters.

“Eric had a nice match,” Glenn said. “He did a good job of setting, and he has been working on his jump serve.”

As for the change in the offense?

“It worked tonight,” Glenn said. “But we have three good setters, and we might not stay with it.”

The Sailors had a tough time in the first two games.

Irvine battled back from 10-5 and 12-9 deficits in the first game to tie it, 12-12. But a kill by McCoy, a hitting error by Irvine’s Greg Wakeham and a block by Dan Thomassen and Greg Slick gave Newport Harbor three consecutive points and the game.

A kill by Newport Harbor’s Todd Jameson ended a long rally, broke an 11-11 tie and sent the Sailors on the way to a victory in the second game.

McCoy had four kills in the third game as Newport Harbor pulled away from a 2-2 tie by scoring 12 consecutive points.

Brent Eldridge led Irvine (7-3 overall) with 16 kills. Wakeham added 10 kills for the Vaqueros.

In other league matches:

Woodbridge 3, Santa Margarita 2--Gary Osborne had 28 kills and Kevin Reid added 15 kills in the Warriors’ 13-15, 15-5, 15-11, 8-15, 15-4 victory.

Corona del Mar 3, University 1--Donald Sun had 12 kills and Abe Li had 23 digs for University in a 15-11, 15-4, 6-15, 15-4 loss.