STATE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Sea Kings Retain Neighborhood Title

Chiropractors of Newport Beach, prepare yourself. There are undoubtedly quite a few stiff necks around town this morning. If you weren’t aware, Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor played for the State Division I volleyball title Saturday night, meaning 3,000 or so onlookers attempted to keep up with a white ball whacked back and forth so furiously, you half expected it to cry out in pain.

If you like heart palpitations, this was your kind of match, one that Corona del Mar’s Kristen Campbell finally put to an end with a nifty dink. Prior to that, you just didn’t know. Sure, before finally dismantling Newport Harbor, 16-14, 15-8, 16-18, 9-15, 15-10, Corona del Mar had that magical two-game lead. But anyone with a bit of volleyball background knew that wasn’t safe. Not when a match involves Newport Harbor, a team that thrives on tenacity and coming back from oblivion.

But Newport wanted more. The Sailors had heard the comparisons all season: Corona has the talent; Newport has the heart. Corona has the physical ability; Newport has the guts . . . The Sailors were tired of hearing it. As was Corona del Mar. Saturday night, both sides knew, would settle it for sure.

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect match. Corona del Mar came in as the defending Division I champion and the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, according to USA Today. Newport beat Corona del Mar twice in Sea View League play to earn its first league title since 1987, won the Orange County Championships, and was topped by only one team--take a wild guess--in the national rankings.

Battle of the Bay? You could say that. It’s crazy. There are about 20,000 high schools in the United States but Saturday night, two schools five miles apart, from the same city no less, played for the national crown. How did it happen? The strong club volleyball program in the area has plenty to do with it, of course, but the credit has to go to the individuals.

Like Kim Coleman, the Corona del Mar senior captain who keeps everyone on their toes, drawing out strengths in each of her teammates. And Jennifer Stroffe, who can hit volleyball so hard you wonder if she has a steel arm. And Kelly Campbell, sophomore sister of Kristen, whose emergence this season put the team on a higher level. Kelly Campbell has what her club coach, Charlie Brande, calls a “Charles Manson look” when she’s particularly fired up. Saturday night she looked downright evil.

She had to. As did all her teammates. Newport wasn’t going to let go of this one easily and the Sea Kings knew it all too well. Not with master blaster Misty May wearing a Newport Harbor uniform. Not with Newport’s all-too-obvious want for revenge after its loss at the section championships. Corona del Mar knew it had to do everything it could to win this one. Not only on the court but off.

That mean watching their good-luck movie “Aladdin” for the countless time Saturday afternoon. That mean having each Sea King make three wishes (“Let us win! Let us win! Let us win!”) while holding the tiny Aladdin lamp charm that middle blocker Caitlin Pickart wears on a chain around her neck. That meant humming “Aladdin” songs and reciting “Aladdin” lines. Anything that works, I guess.

At season’s beginnings, Corona del Mar Coach Lance Stewart predicted his team could repeat as section and State champions. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Sea Kings won every match. He asked certain team members to read books that business executives are apt to skim through, titles like “Principle-Centered Leadership.” He asked them to focus, re-focus and focus some more. If he had any doubts, he didn’t show it. And neither did Corona del Mar.

That is what bugged Newport Harbor more than anything else, actually. Corona del Mar had this cockiness, the Sailors said. It showed up in interviews with the newspaper, with the way the Sea Kings strutted on court. Not that it makes any difference now. Corona del Mar, as many know, means “crown of the sea” in Spanish.

Saturday night, in the battle of the bay and the beach, the Sea Kings proved they earned that crown.