Caldwell finds his groove

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Finally a team for Newport Harbor High junior setter Kyle Caldwell to find his groove against.

The junior played his third volleyball match of the year Wednesday after being out with a stress fracture in his right foot.

Winless Marina in the Sunset League proved to be a good opponent for Caldwell to get going against. And he did just that by recording 11 kills and four services aces to help the Sailors to a 25-23, 25-13, 25-23 sweep at Golden West College.

“Kyle just getting in and getting some rhythm, just way behind everybody else as far as that [is concerned],” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “The two [matches] that he was here [with us], we were playing the No. 2 team in CIF [Division I in Esperanza].

“It was pretty hard to get your rhythm when you’re playing against that team. They’re real, real good right now. We got a long way to go before we can catch them. We’re figuring out how to play together.”

Out of the three games, Game 2 demonstrated to Glenn how good his Sailors (12-9, 3-2 in league) can be in stretches.

Newport Harbor showcased its balanced attack, with UCLA-bound senior middle blocker Weston Dunlap and Tucker Peleuses contributing 11 kills each. A handful of those came in the second game in which Marina (0-5 in league) had no answers.

Someone screamed from the Vikings’ bench after it appeared Caldwell on a kill recorded the Sailors’ 25th point to take Game 2. There was a mix-up at the scorer’s table, thus leaving Newport Harbor up, 24-13.

But the 6-7 Dunlap finished things up, blasting a kill to force the two teams to switch sides.

“We did a couple of things with the lineup,” said Glenn of moving guys around. “I was really happy with the second game.”

As he was with Caldwell’s performance. Caldwell was thrilled with himself, too.

He showed his versatility for a 6-foot-8 setter. He dropped in one of his four aces late in the third game, allowing Glenn to smile on the bench with his squad one point away from picking up the sweep.

“It’s all gone now,” said Caldwell of the pain, which bothered him a little when he returned against Esperanza before spring break. “That was pretty difficult. I had only one practice, and then playing [Esperanza] back-to-back.

“We got Los Alamitos [today at 4:15 p.m.]. That’s going to be a fun game.”

Caldwell sounds like he’s found his groove.