Clayton, Sailors Ride Hot Streak to Beat No. 1

Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn had been grousing all season about how the Sailors kept making too many mistakes. But they seemed to have solved the problem, at least for one week.

Stanford-bound outside hitter Billy Clayton had 33 kills and setter Kent Turner had 75 assists to help Newport Harbor upset host Irvine, then the top-ranked team in the county, in five games Thursday.

The Sailors also got a lift from Dustin Illingworth, Brian Gaeta and Adam Tomalas.

The victory seemed unlikely, considering Newport Harbor had struggled on the road this season and Irvine won the first meeting, in four games, on the Sailors’ home court.

“When Kent plays well we’re pretty good,” Glenn said. “We got the ball to Billy and we showed that when we’re on, we can play with anyone. The problem is that when we’re low, we’re pretty bad.”

Newport Harbor’s victory also punctuated the fact that though there are plenty of excellent teams in the county this season, none is unbeatable.

The county’s top four ranked teams--Marina, Corona del Mar, Irvine and El Toro--all have at least one loss.

SUN-SETS ON FOUNTAIN VALLEY

Before last week’s match at Esperanza, Fountain Valley Coach Tim Johnson talked about how his team was making progress each time it faced top-ranked and Sunset League-leading Marina.

“We’ve played them three times in tournaments and our first league match,” Johnson said. “We’re getting better each time.”

Then, Esperanza brought Fountain Valley crashing down to earth, tagging the Barons with a four-game loss. Now, Fountain Valley, Esperanza and Huntington Beach figure to battle for the final two automatic playoff bids.

“I don’t think anyone will catch Marina,” Johnson said after the match. “And only two of us three are going to the playoffs. Anything can happen.”

BUS-TED

The Sunset League has a key back-to-back showdown coming up after spring break when Huntington Beach (4-6, 2-3) will play at Esperanza (8-3, 4-1) next Monday. The teams meet two days later, April 26, at Huntington Beach.

The first match was postponed from March 31, when Huntington Beach’s bus never arrived to take the Oilers up to the Anaheim campus.

“In 20 years, I’ve never seen that happen,” Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said.

Said Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten with a laugh: “Yeah, what’s going on down there? Fountain Valley was 45 minutes late for our match here [April 11] too. They don’t know what it’s really like to travel that far all the time.”

Kersten does. The Esperanza teacher lives in Huntington Beach.

NATIONAL TEAM PLAYERS

Five Orange County players were named to the 2000 USA Volleyball boys’ junior national team training squad: Marina’s Rob Kijewski and Jeff Wootton, El Toro’s Jimmy Pelzel, Corona del Mar’s Kevin Hansen and Pepperdine’s Brad Keenan, who graduated from Fountain Valley in 1999.

Twelve from the 18-player training squad will be selected to the travel team which will represent the United States at the NORCECA Zone Championships in Cuba, Aug. 8-16.

Newport Harbor junior Blake Tippett was selected to the youth national team, which will participate in the the NORCECA Zone Championships in Durango, Mexico, Aug. 16-23.

If you have an item or idea for the boys’ volleyball report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at mike.itagaki@latimes.com