Battle of the Bay Preview

Girls’ water polo

Battle of the Bay

Corona del Mar (2-0) vs. Newport Harbor (3-0)

When/where: Friday, 4 p.m. at Newport Harbor High

Key Sea Kings: Sr. utility Pippa Saunders (one goal, two assists, three steals); Sr. goalie Alex Musselman (28 saves); Sr. center Diana Murphy (three goals, four steals); Jr. attacker Cassidy Papa (four goals, two assists, four steals); Jr. attacker Ally McCormick (six goals, two assists, one steal).

Key Sailors: Sr. attacker Presley Pender (six goals, six steals, three assists); Sr. center Maddy McLaren (six goals, four steals); Jr. center Avery Peterson (five goals, three steals, one assist); Jr. center Elissia Schilling (five goals, five steals, two assists); Jr. attacker Carly Christian (four goals, five steals, two assists).

Breakdown: The rivalry match features the top two teams in CIF Southern Section Division I ... CdM is top-ranked and Newport Harbor, which was ranked No. 5 in the division in the preseason poll, moved up to No. 2 after beating previous No. 2 Foothill on the road last week ... The UCLA-bound McLaren is back for the Sailors after missing the Foothill game due to a USA Water Polo camp in Colorado ... CdM returns five starters, all of them Newport-Mesa Dream Team selections, from last year’s team that advanced to the Division I semifinals ... The starters include UCLA-bound Musselman, last year’s Dream Team Player of the Year ... Newport Harbor went 3-0 against CdM last year and has won the last two Battle of the Bay matches ... After Friday’s match, neither team plays again until the Holiday Cup the teams co-host Dec. 30-31.

— Matt Szabo