NEWPORT BEACH – Newport Harbor’s boys volleyball team beat sixth-ranked Los Alamitos, 25-17, 25-20, 25-15, Friday night in a Sunset League match at Newport Harbor High.
The No. 7 Sailors (15-5, 3-0) were coming off a win Tuesday against No. 1 Huntington Beach, which snapped the Oilers’ streak of 121 consecutive wins.
“I told them our goal is to win the Sunset League, so that was just one step,” Sailors coach Rocky Ciarelli said of the win over Huntington Beach. “A really big step, but just one step.
“(The players) have all bought in, and hopefully we keep working and good things happen.”
Good things happened for Newport Harbor in the first game. The Sailors used a 6-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. Despite committing six service errors in the game, the Sailors won the game, 25-17.
The service problems continued for Newport in the second game, and three of Los Alamitos’ first four points came from service errors by the Sailors.
“You live by the jump-serve and die by the jump-serve,” Ciarelli said. “You have to take the points with the misses.
“Overall we are pretty consistent, so I am not too worried, but we got carried away a few times tonight.”
Los Alamitos coach Mike Whitcomb was disappointed in his team’s inability to take advantage of Newport’s mistakes.
“We struggled all night, especially with our outside hitters,” Whitcomb said. “It’s hard to compete when you aren’t getting production out there.”
Los Alamitos only had one point from their outside hitters after the first two games.
The Griffins scored four points in a row facing set point, but lost the second game 25-20.
The Griffins (14-5, 1-2) fought hard early in the third game and led, 9-8, before Newport took control and sealed the victory.
Landon Monroe and Cole Pender each had 11 kills for the Sailors.
“We have a very balanced attack so it’s hard for teams to figure out how they want to play us,” Ciarelli said.
