Husband, Wife Take Opposite Sides in Showdown

Isaac and Kathy Owens met because of volleyball and began their romance because of volleyball. And this week, Isaac Owens might be sleeping on the couch because of volleyball.

Thursday, they will be sitting on opposing benches for a key Sunset League match when fourth-ranked Esperanza, where Kathy works as an assistant coach, plays at eighth-ranked Huntington Beach, where Isaac is a first-year head coach.

“He’s much more paranoid than I am,” Kathy said. “We discuss volleyball strategies a lot. I don’t think that’ll stop this week.

“But it will be more comedy than anything else.”

The Owens’ relationship began three years ago when Kathy was an assistant for the Esperanza boys’ team and Isaac was an assistant for Huntington Beach.

“I first met him at the Orange County Championships that year,” Kathy said. “I was videotaping one of their matches and he comes over to me and says, ‘Like that’s going to help you.’ ”

Weeks later, the couple met by chance at a local bar in Huntington Beach.

“We ended up making a bet on the Huntington-Esperanza match,” Isaac said, “where the loser would have to treat the winner to drinks.”

Esperanza, then-ranked second in the county, lost to third-ranked Huntington Beach in five games. That led to the couple’s first date and Isaac treated Kathy to dinner.

“Call it fate or whatever,” Kathy said. “The rest was history. We were never separated after that.”

And Isaac Owens, a Huntington Beach High graduate, became an adopted son of Esperanza.

Kathy Owens, who played at UC Riverside, was the starting setter for the Esperanza girls’ team that reached the 1989 Division 4-A final. Her younger brother, Dan Harrington, helped Esperanza boys win the Division I title in 1997 and he currently plays for Loyola Marymount.

Sisters Chrissie and Elizabeth Harrington also played volleyball for the Aztecs.

“I saw a lot of people from Esperanza at our wedding earlier this year,” Isaac said.

And Owens also saw some Esperanza players during club season. He coached Esperanza starters Mindy Chuha, Laura St. John and Kristen Thompson last season. He has also coached former Esperanza standouts Julia Rex, who is now at Texas A&M;, and Dana Chuha, now at Baylor.

“Isaac likes to help us out,” Kathy said. “He wants to see people do well.”

Including his counterpart, Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten.

“He’s a great guy,” Isaac said. “We’ll exchange information on teams we play, talk about it. We run into each other a lot.”

So how does Kersten feel about this week’s match?

“Well, I know I’m not her favorite coach,” Kersten said, laughing.

And Kathy Owens admitted she does have conflicting emotions heading into the big match.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really competitive and I want to win,” Kathy said. “But if Huntington loses to us, I don’t want to be around Isaac. It will be a bad night for him if we beat them.”

Said Issac: “Kathy’s always been supportive of me in my job. So I’ve asked her, ‘Can you not be on their bench this week?’ I know they’re better when she’s there.

“But she says, ‘Hey that’s my job,’ and I can’t argue with that. And I want to see her do well. No matter who wins, I’ll still be a winner.”

ON THE MEND

Calvary Chapel, ranked fourth in Orange County and second in Division IV-A, suffered a tough five-game loss last week to Los Angeles Brentwood, the top-ranked team in Division IV-A. It was the first loss of the season for Calvary Chapel.

But the Eagles weren’t at full strength.

Starting outside hitter Kelly Overby, the team’s top attacker, tried to play through a stomach muscle injury and was ineffective, and starting outside hitter, Halina Stanaland, sat out with a shoulder injury, Calvary Chapel assistant Coach Chuck Wright said.

“I don’t know how long it will be before Kelly’s back at full strength,” Wright said.

Irvine’s Julianna Bailey, an All-Southern Section Division I selection last season, returned from a knee injury and helped Irvine win the Santa Barbara San Marcos tournament last weekend. It was the Vaqueros’ first tournament title since 1995.

Jody Carlson was tournament MVP for Irvine, which defeated North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the finals, 15-8.

Irvine, ranked seventh in Orange County, plays at top-ranked Newport Harbor tonight.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Girls’ Volleyball Polls

Southern Section Coaches’ Poll

Division I-AA--1. Newport Harbor, 2. Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 3. Irvine, 4. Long Beach Poly, 5. Redlands East Valley, 6. Dana Hills, 7. Capistrano Valley, 8. Esperanza, 9. Arcadia, 10. Upland.

Division I-A--1. Mater Dei, 2. Santa Barbara, 3. Huntington Beach, 4. Santa Barbara San Marcos, 5. Ventura Buena, 6. Simi Valley Royal, 7. Thousand Oaks, 8. San Clemente, 9. Claremont, 10. Ventura.

Division II-AA--1. Santa Margarita, 2. Westlake Village Westlake, 3. South Torrance, 4. Cypress, 5. Redondo Union, 6. Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World, 7. Hemet, 8. Whittier La Serna, 9. Valencia, 10. Foothill.

Division II-A--1. Covina South Hills, 2. Lakewood St. Joseph, 3. Glendora St. Lucy’s, 4. La Habra, 5. San Luis Obispo, 6. Goleta Dos Pueblos, 7. Ridgecrest Burroughs, 8. Atascadero, 9. Lakewood Mayfair, 10. Ocean View.

Division III-AA--1. Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 2. North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, 3. Corona del Mar, 4. Costa Mesa, 5. La Canada, 6. Riverside Notre Dame, 7. Rosary, 8. Ojai Nordhoff, 9. Mission Hills Alemany, 10. Temecula Chaparral.

Division III-A--Not reported.

Division IV-AA--1. Laguna Beach, 2. L.A. Marymount, 3. Thousand Oaks La Reina, 4. L.A. Notre Dame Academy, 5. Cerritos Whitney, 6. Flintridge Sacred Heart, 7. Cerritos Valley Christian, 8. Woodland Hills Louisville, 9. El Segundo, 10. Carpinteria.

Division IV-A--1. Los Angeles Brentwood, 2. Calvary Chapel, 3. Whittier Christian, 4. Sun Valley Village Christian, 5. Los Angeles Marlborough, 6. Malibu, 7. Orange Lutheran, 8. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 9. Sierra Madre Alverno, 10. San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea.

Division V-AA--1. St. Margaret’s, 2. Calabasas Viewpoint, 3. Palos Verdes Peninsula Chadwick, 4. North Hollywood Campbell Hall, 5. Covina Western Christian, 6. Pasadena Poly, 7. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 8. Simi Valley Grace Brethren, 9. L.A. Windward, 10. Lone Pine.

Division V-A--1. Hemet Baptist Christian, 2. Liberty Christian, 3. Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep, 4. Thousand Oaks Hillcrest Christian, 5. Camarillo Cornerstone Christian, 6. Baker Valley, 7. Santa Monica Lighthouse Church, 8. Pico Rivera Mesrobian, 9. Cuyama Valley, 10. Independence Owens Valley.

State Coaches’ Poll

Division I--1. Newport Harbor, 2. Stockton Lincoln, 3. San Marcos, 4. Mater Dei, 5. Mira Costa, 6. Bakersfield Centennial, 7. San Jose Archbishop Mitty, 8. Santa Barbara, 9. Royal, 10. Long Beach Wilson.

Division II--1. Santa Margarita, 2. Mountain View St. Francis, 3. Placerville El Dorado, 4. Westlake, 5. St. Joseph, 6. South Hills, 7. Bakersfield Highland, 8. La Jolla, 9. La Habra, 10. Pleasanton Amador Valley.

Division III--1. Bishop Montgomery, 2. Harvard-Westlake, 3. Corona del Mar, 4. Sonoma Valley, 5. Forestville El Molino, 6. Sacramento St. Francis, 7. Costa Mesa, 8. Los Gatos, 9. Redding Enterprise, 10. Tollouse Sierra.

Division IV--1. Calvary Chapel, 2. Laguna Beach, 3. Atherton Menlo, 4. Ripon, 5. Escalon, 6. Brentwood, 7. SO Notre Dame, 8. Marymount, 9. Cerritos Valley Christian, 10. Linden.

Division V--1. San Diego Francis Parker, 2. Auburn Forest Lake Christian, 3. Hemet Baptist Christian, 4. Reedley Immanuel, 5. St. Margaret’s, 6. Modesto Central Catholic, 7. Visalia Central Valley Christian, 8. Alturas Modoc, 9. Atherton Sacred Heart Prep, 10. Viewpoint.

Overall--1. Newport Harbor, 2. Lincoln, 3. San Marcos, 4. Santa Margarita, 5. Mater Dei, 6. Mira Costa, 7. St. Francis, 8. Centennial, 9. Calvary Chapel, 10. Bishop Montgomery.