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Stevens, Kapana earn silver

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Newport Harbor High’s Dan Stevens and Carlee Kapana each had a standout week representing Team USA in Puerto Rico.

Stevens and Kapana led the American boys and girls, respectively, to silver medals at the 2011 Unión Americana de Natación Water Polo Youth Pan American Championships in San Juan.

Stevens and the boys advanced to the championship match at the tournament before falling to Brazil, 6-4, on Friday night at the San Juan Natatorium. Stevens, who is entering his junior year at Newport Harbor, was named a team captain for Team USA.

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The starting defender is a two-time member of the U.S. Youth National Team. Stevens will be a key player for the Sailors and first-year Coach Robert Lynn this fall, as well; last year he was second on the team in goals scored as a sophomore.

Kapana, who is an incoming freshman at Newport Harbor, split time in goal with Redlands East Valley’s Alexis Hollinrake throughout the tournament for the Team USA girls. Kapana played the second half in the gold-medal match earlier Friday, which Canada won, 7-6.

In a 10-8 win over Brazil that sent the Americans to the gold-medal match, Kapana played the whole way in goal and made 13 saves. She is a member of the U.S. girls’ Cadet National Team.

— Matt Szabo

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Ross reaches semis

Newport Harbor High alumna April Ross and partner Jen Kessy moved into the semifinals of the Federation International de Volleyball event in England on Saturday following a 21-18, 21-12 victory over sixth-seeded Bibiana Candelas and Mayra Garcia of Mexico.

Ross and Kessy are the third seeds. They’ll play No. 9-seeded Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns of Great Britain in the semifinals Sunday. Boulton and Johns upset second-seeded Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China in another quarterfinal.

Two teams from Brazil, fourth-seeded Vivian Cunha and Taiana Lima and 19th seeded Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira, will meet in the other semifinal.

The women’s-only tournament concludes Sunday. It is not part of the FIVB World Tour and the prize purse is only $10,000.

— From staff reports

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Newport Harbor finishes fourth

The Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team fell to Mater Dei in the third-place gold bracket match at the Ann Kang Tournament, 25-23, 20-25, 15-4, on Saturday night at the Iolani School in Honolulu.

Newport Harbor had opened its day Saturday with a quarterfinal win over Mira Costa, 17-25, 25-15, 15-9. The Sailors then lost to Edison, 25-23, 25-15, in the gold bracket semifinals.

Incoming seniors Cinnamon Sary and Alex Holbrook made the all-tournament team for the Sailors. For Sary, it was the second straight year she’s earned that honor. She had 26 kills in Saturday’s three matches, and a particularly strong match against Mira Costa with 11 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Holbrook had 10 kills and two blocks in that match.

Incoming senior Kasey Thompson had nine kills in the three matches, and her younger sister Torey, a junior-to-be, totaled 64 assists.

Incoming sophomore Carol Bockrath had 14 combined kills and senior-to-be Tatum Norton led the team with 12 combined digs in the first two matches.

Edison was set to play Moanalua of Hawaii in the tournament’s championship match.

— From staff reports

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