Santa Margarita captures O.C. Championships

HUNTINGTON BEACH – For the second time in less than a week, the Santa Margarita boys volleyball team defeated Newport Harbor, this time with the Orange County Championships title on the line.

Santa Margarita, ranked No. 1 in the county, defeated second-ranked Newport Harbor, 25-12, 23-25, 15-11, on Monday night at Edison High in the 37th edition of the county championships.

Santa Margarita senior outside hitter Spencer Buckley was selected tournament MVP as he had eight kills Monday. Teammate Mitch Vallis also had eight kills and was selected to the all-tournament team.

Santa Margarita (14-2) defeated Newport Harbor (7-3), 25-19, 25-20, 25-18 in a nonleague match March 15.

This time around, the Eagles dominated the first game but as might have been expected found themselves locked in a battle in the second game.

Santa Margarita was on the verge of sweeping the match in two sets, but Newport Harbor rallied from 19-16 down to tie the score at 21, before winning to force a third and deciding game.

"I knew he was probably going to switch the lineup and try to get a better matchup and they got the better matchup and sure enough, they took it to us in that second game," Santa Margarita coach Bryan Cottriel said.

Cody Caldwell carried the Sailors in the second game, recording eight of his 14 kills.

The third game was tied at 8, before the Eagles scored three consecutive points to take control on the way to the victory.

"The key to third game was adjusting to Cody (Caldwell)," Buckley said. "He was hitting the deep corners, so we had to play a lot deeper and then just blocking and playing defense."

Caldwell and Ian Sequeira earned all-tournament honors from Newport Harbor, which gave a better performance than the first meeting, but fell short.

"We made a few too many mistakes (in the third game) to beat them," Newport Harbor coach Dan Glenn said. "You have to go out and beat them and we didn't do that tonight."