Balance is the key to most successful attacks, and that was true for the Orange Lutheran girls volleyball team Tuesday night.
The fifth-ranked Lancers, with senior setter Emily Blair directing the offense, defeated visiting Newport Harbor, 25-13, 20-25, 25-14, 25-15, in a nonleague match.
“We’ve been working together for three years now on varsity,” Orange Lutheran coach Andrew Mabry said of Blair. “She has a pretty good feel for what I like to do, and she has a pretty good pulse on our team.”
Taylor Wheatley led Orange Lutheran (10-5) with 20 kills and Kaitlyn Gibbons had 17. Emily Aranda had nine and Hannah Hirzel and Emma Bottger, finished with eight and six, respectively.
“The passing really helped me spread out the hitters that I chose,” Blair said. “I got to see the block and see where to set.”
Carolyn Bockrath led the Sailors with 14 kills. The senior didn’t have any hitting errors. Leah Castillo and Gabby Shelley had eight kills apiece.
“I thought Newport (Harbor) was really good at times,” Mabry said. “We made some mistakes in game two, but they put pressure on us early. They did some really good things in game two.”
Once the Lancers got past the second set, they were able to get back in control of the match. In the third set, with the score tied at 10-10, Wheatley went on a personal 3-0 run to give the Lancers the lead for good.
In another nonleague match
Santa Margarita 3, Capistrano Valley 0: Claire Archibald had 15 kills and Meghan McClure had eight to lead the Eagles to the 25-15, 25-22, 25-17 home victory.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
