Sailors Put Away Corona del Mar

Not much separates the Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar boys’ volleyball teams. They are close in ability and proximity, and the two shared the Sea View League championship this season.

Only one point separated the two teams in the first three games of their Southern Section Division I championship match Saturday.

But Newport Harbor held that edge and rode the wave of a Game 3 comeback to defeat Corona del Mar, 16-14, 12-15, 16-14, 15-3, to win its first championship in 12 years in front of 2,000 at Cypress College.

Seniors Matt Jameson had 20 kills and five blocks and setter Ty Tramblie had 68 assists and 34 digs to lead the Sailors, who won again with balance and grit.

Seniors Adam Hearlson (12 kills, 10 blocks) and Al Limon (13 kills, 19 digs) and junior Billy Clayton (15 kills, three blocks) all played major roles in Newport Harbor’s rally from an 11-3 deficit in Game 3.

After the teams split the first two games, Corona del Mar’s Dennis Alshuler, who will play volleyball and football at Princeton next season, had seven of his 23 kills in the third game to help the Sea Kings to the early eight-point lead.

Then Newport Harbor (22-1) began to chip away, and the Sailors’ fans grew louder with every Newport Harbor dig and spike.

The Sailors would side out successfully on 14 of their next 15 tries and pulled even, 12-12, when Clayton and Tramblie blocked Corona del Mar’s Greg Stampley (13 kills).

Corona del Mar (16-3) didn’t fold. After a service error, Stampley put one away to make it 13-12, then a setting error by Tramblie made it 14-12.

So were the Sailors ever nervous?

Said Jameson: “We said to each other that we didn’t work this hard to get back in it just to blow it.”

Said Tramblie: “We knew we just had to keep it going. We’ve played too long together to go out like that.”

So with Corona del Mar serving for the game, Limon spiked for a kill and a side out. Then he went back to serve and Jameson delivered a block and kill to pull Newport Harbor even, 14-14.

Another kill from Clayton and a Corona del Mar hitting error followed and the Sailor fans roared.

“Whoever lost this match, I knew it would be a tough pill to swallow,” Corona del Mar Coach Steve Conti said. “Especially for us, knowing we had them on the ropes in that third game.

“But we had our chances. I just wished we would have showed a little more character in that fourth game.”

Newport Harbor won the first seven points of Game 4 and the last seven points, with Tramblie serving out the match and Hearlson and Jameson blocking Alshuler to spark the celebratory dog pile.

It is the third title for Newport Harbor and second for Coach Dan Glenn, who won his first in 1987 but lost in the ’88 and ’91 Division 4-A finals.

Corona del Mar won the Division III title last season but was playing in its first top division final since 1989, when current UC Irvine men’s Coach Charlie Brande led the Sea Kings to the Division 4-A championship.

To reach this final, Corona del Mar won three consecutive five-game matches including one over another league rival, El Toro, in the second round.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas,” Conti said. “It wasn’t that we lost, but Newport won this one.”