Newport Harbor Plays Through Pain to Win

The hardest and easiest thing for the Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball team was to return to the court for Tuesday’s second-round Southern Section Division I playoff match against San Clemente.

And Newport Harbor senior Billy Clayton, who has signed with Stanford, led a furious comeback, tallying 10 of his 28 kills in the fifth game in the Sailors’ 15-9, 13-15, 5-15, 15-11, 15-5 victory Tuesday at Newport Harbor High.

Newport Harbor (15-5), the Sea View League co-champion, advanced to play top-seeded Marina in Friday’s quarterfinals. San Clemente ended 15-6.

Prior to Tuesday’s match, a moment of silence was observed for Andre Stewart, a Newport Harbor football standout who died in an auto accident Sunday. The Sailors also wore black bands around their socks bearing Stewart’s No. 2.

“[Monday] was one of the hardest days of practice I’ve ever had,” said Newport Harbor’s 14th-year Coach Dan Glenn. “We had to try and prepare the kids for a very important match, but in the scope of things, it just didn’t seem that big. I’m real proud that they were able to stay focused.”

Dustin Illingworth (21 kills, nine blocks) helped the Sailors start fast with a 15-9 victory in Game 1, then San Clemente seized the momentum.

As the Tritons’ passing improved, so did their offensive effectiveness as UCLA-bound Gray Garrett (33 kills, six blocks), and UC Irvine-bound Spencer Bemus (15 kills, six blocks) helped the Tritons win the Games 2 and 3.

But Newport Harbor senior setter Kent Turner had four of his seven kills and 23 of his 78 assists in the fourth game to help the Sailors win, 15-11.

“For me personally, the past two days were very difficult,” said Clayton, who played with Stewart on the Sailors’ Division VI championship football team this season. “I’m emotionally exhausted.

“The whole school, with the media and all, was anything but normal. But it was easier once we got on the court.”