South Boys, Girls Win in All-Star Volleyball

Orange County’s finest volleyball players took center stage Thursday night at Newport Harbor High and they did not disappoint.

The play alternated from spectacular to ragged and there was a smattering of the expected and unexpected in the boys’ and girls’ Orange County All-Star matches.

It was just another typical, feel-good, all-star gathering.

Capistrano Valley’s Omar Rawi, who will play at USC next season, overshadowed some of the top boys’ players and earned MVP honors to lead the South to a 21-11, 19-21, 21-19 victory over the North in the rally-scoring match.

Newport Harbor’s Misty May, the Times Orange County’s player of the year, was named MVP of the girls’ match after leading the South to a three-game sweep of the North, 21-10, 22-20, 21-16.

May, who will play at Long Beach State next season, played setter, outside hitter and roamed just about everywhere, displaying the talents that helped the Sailors win the State and Southern Section Division I championships this season.

Her coach, Newport Harbor’s Dan Glenn, was on the sidelines with Calvary Chapel’s Jim Downey coaching a loaded South unit. Although Esperanza’s Laura Echolds (five kills) and Kristy Kierulff and Fountain Valley’s Kristin Moro tried to rally the North, the South was too overpowering.

Dana Hills’ Jenny Kessy, the South Coast League MVP who will play at USC next season, had seven kills for the South in Game 1, mostly on sets from May. Laguna Beach’s Lisa Ravensberg, who has signed with University of San Diego, had three blocks in Game 1.

How deep was the South’s first unit? Two Colorado recruits--Newport Harbor’s Melissa Schutz and Calvary Chapel’s Courtney Owens--were virtual non-factors in Game 1 and it still cruised to a 21-10 victory.

Schutz, who shared league MVP honors with May, and Owens, the section and state Division IV MVP, each had only one kill in Game 1.

So how did Glenn pick his lineup?

“We threw darts,” Glenn quipped before the match began.

Said Edison Coach Dave Mohs, who with Sunny Hills’ Ron Kasser coached the North: “I told Danny that I wanted to play a match when Misty was on my side of the net.”

Mohs watched May and Newport Harbor eliminate Edison in the semifinals of the section tournament earlier this season. Still, Mohs was smiling because he could coach three of his seniors--Edison’s Jill Butts, Erin McCown and Jennifer Porterfield--in their final high school match.

Mohs, who resigned from his coaching duties at Edison earlier this year, still is recovering after undergoing surgery less than a month ago.

“When they told me the all-star match was on June 1, I was in the hospital and I didn’t know if I would make it here,” Mohs said. “But it feels good to be here.”

In the boys’ match, the South felt good early, pounding its way to a 21-11 victory behind Rawi (four blocks), San Clemente’s Gabe Gardner and Corin Bemus and Woodbridge’s Kevin Reid.

Gardner and Bemus, who helped the Tritons reach the Division I final for the first time since 1981, each had three kills and Reid tallied four in Game 1. South setter Kurt Nelson of Laguna Beach had 20 assists in Games 1 and 3.

Calvary Chapel’s Robert Schildts (five kills) helped the North win Game 2, but Newport Harbor’s Greg Slick had three kills to help the South pull out the match with a 21-19 victory in Game 3.