Marina Pushes Newport Harbor Before Losing

Sure, third-seeded Newport Harbor needed only three games to defeat Marina in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs Friday.

But host Marina made Newport Harbor sweat it out for two hours before succumbing, 15-12, 18-16, 15-8.

Senior Matt Jameson put one away from the left side on match point, giving him his 11th kill of the game and 23rd of the match to help put Newport Harbor (20-1) into Wednesday’s semifinals against Esperanza.

Jameson’s kill was the exclamation point for the Sailors, who weathered Marina’s three-pronged attack led by juniors Rob Kijewski (20 kills) and Jeff Wootton (19 kills) and senior Scot Austin (15 kills, six blocks).

Marina led, 12-11, in the first game before Newport Harbor scored four consecutive points to win the game. Then, Marina (17-5) rallied from a 14-11 deficit in the second game, scoring four consecutive points to get a game point before Newport Harbor responded.

“We were in a position to win the first two games and we let them off the hook,” Marina Coach Darrick Lucero said. “You can’t do that. The match could have been different if we win those and they have to play with their backs to the wall. But they made the plays when it counted.”

Newport Harbor’s senior setter Ty Tramblie, who had 54 assists and 21 digs, used an effective jump serve to help the Sailors score six consecutive points to turn a one-point lead into a 12-5 advantage in the third game.

During that run, Tramblie and the rest of the Sailors made some key digs and Jameson was putting the ball away. When Tramblie wasn’t setting Jameson, opposite hitter Eric Perrine set Jameson for five of the kills in the run.

Newport Harbor’s Al Limon (12 kills, 19 digs), Adam Hearlson (11 kills, six blocks) and Billy Clayton (10 kills, seven in the second game) kept Marina off balance.