Roommates Sharing Quest for Titles

Only two Orange County coaches are preparing game plans for the girls’ volleyball state finals Saturday, and coincidentally, they are doing some of the work under the same roof.

Newport Harbor’s Dan Glenn and Santa Margarita’s Eddie Rapp have been housemates since September, which must have made for interesting conversations when their teams were battling for the Sea View League title.

“We actually surf more than anything else,” Glenn said. “We don’t talk volleyball that much, except of course right now.”

Now, the focus in the house--on the sand in Newport Beach--is today’s state championships at Cypress College. Rapp will lead Santa Margarita against Mountain View St. Francis in the Division II final at 5 p.m. Afterward, at about 7, Glenn and the Sailors will meet Stockton Lincoln for the Division I championship.

Newport Harbor, making its sixth appearance in a state final, is shooting for its third title--and first since 1994--and the top-ranked Sailors, who are 26-0 (39-1 if you include best-of-three tournament matches) seem to have the team to do it.

They are led by Jennifer Carey, a 6-foot-1 senior setter who was the Southern Section Division I co-player of the year in 1997. She has only grown stronger since and has plenty of skilled teammates to draw upon. Junior April Ross, 6-1, is a powerful threat at outside hitter and 6-2 middle blockers Kathy Lavold, a senior, and Krista Dill, a junior, have been dominant.

Lincoln (39-1), playing in its first state final, is led by senior setter Mindy Jellin, a USA Volleyball Junior All-American.

Santa Margarita will try to win its first state title, but the Eagles will have to defeat top-ranked St. Francis, the team that beat them in the Division II final last year.

The Eagles (19-5), ranked third in the division, are a well-rounded team, tested by finishing second to Newport Harbor in the tough Sea View League and winning the Southern Section Division II-AA title.

Sarah Ballog, a 6-1 senior middle blocker, Lauren Heri, a 6-0 junior outside hitter, and Christy Pfrenzinger, a 6-0 senior middle blocker, key the Santa Margarita offense.

St. Francis, with six players 6-0 or taller and Stacy Millichap, a 5-8 outsider hitter who has been named MVP of three tournaments this season, will be tough to handle. The Lancers (36-1), who have an especially tough defense, are attempting to win their fourth state title. Only Corona del Mar has as many.

Rapp is hoping to gain an edge against St. Francis by talking to his good friend Glenn, the only coach to have defeated the Lancers this season. A Newport Harbor parent provided a videotape of the match--a 15-17, 15-12, 15-0, 16-14 victory in the final of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

“I’m definitely going to ask him some questions, interrogate him a little bit,” Rapp said. “He’s always been real supportive. We like to see each other succeed.”

The two have been friends for years. Rapp was the setter for Glenn’s Edison boys’ team that reached the Southern Section championship match in 1986 and was an assistant at Newport Harbor seven years ago while working on his teaching credential.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to coach volleyball and he told me I didn’t have a choice,” Rapp said. “So I kind of took his word for it.”