Newport Harbor knocks out Santa Margarita

The defending champs are out, courtesy of No. 1 Newport Harbor.

The top-seeded Sailors swept Santa Margarita, 25-23, 25-13, 25-18, Tuesday night in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division I-AA girls volleyball playoffs at Newport Harbor High.

Newport Harbor (28-6) faces Los Alamitos in Saturday’s final at Cypress College. The Griffins beat Mira Costa in four games in the other semifinal. The undefeated Trinity League champion Eagles end the year 24-10.

It’s going to be the Sailors 13th appearance in a CIF final, and the first since 2003. The Sailors’ last championship was in 2002.

“We are so excited,” Sailors middle blocker Katey Thompson said. “This is what we wanted to play for the whole season.”

Thompson finished with a team-high 14 kills and seven solo blocks to lead the Sailors, who used a key rally in Game 1 and dashed Santa Margarita’s hope of an upset.

Kathryn Conner’s ace gave Santa Margarita a 19-15 lead. However, Newport Harbor caught the Eagles at 21 on a combined block from Thompson and Jackie Graham.

Kylie Hargreaves, who finished with eight kills for the Eagles, tied the match at 23.

Newport Harbor closed the game with a block from Thompson and kill from Kirby Burnham, who finished with 13.

“I think Game 1 was the key for us,” Santa Margarita coach Cristy Chapman-Uhrig said. “Newport Harbor is very disciplined. We had our chance. I thought we stayed with them on defense, but on offense we couldn’t get that first ball down.”

Santa Margarita started alright in Game 2, but with the score even at 8 the Sailors went on a 10-2 run to take control. The final game played out in a similar fashion, with the score staying tight early before the Sailors pulled away late.

“Game 1 was huge for us,” Newport Harbor coach Dan Glenn said. “Santa Margarita is a momentum-type team. If they get it going, they are tough to stop. We pulled that game out then we got a few blocks.”

Santa Margarita upset No. 4 Long Beach Wilson on the road in four games to reach their second consecutive semifinal. However, Newport Harbor’s size and depth prevented the Eagles a shot at defending their title from last season.

The team added 10 new girls that weren’t on last year’s roster, and at the beginning of the season their coach wasn’t sure where they would end up.

“At the beginning of the year it was a clean slate,” Chapman-Uhrig said. “The goal is to peak at the right time and this team peaked at the right time. Getting to the semis is a big accomplishment.”

Saturday’s final is a Sunset League rematch. Los Al and Newport Harbor beat each other once and shared the league championship.

“We love battling them,” Thompson said. “It’s the tiebreaker match.”

In the other Division I-AA semifinal:

No. 2 Los Alamitos 3, No. 3 Mira Costa 1: Jane Croson put down 21 kills to help the Griffins defeat the Mustangs on the road, 27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, and reach their first CIF final since winning the championship in 2005.

Emily Hartong added 11 kills and Lindsay Lawmaster recorded 16 digs. It’s the second time Los Al won at Mira Costa this season, and Tuesday’s victory snapped the Mustangs consecutive CIF final appearances at 10.

“The girls have been playing with a lot of confidence,” Los Al coach Dave Huber said. “We had as many fans as they did there. That helped ease us and the girls played hard.”

Los Al trailed 16-12 in the opening game before coming back late. Though the Griffins fought back from two games down in the first meeting, taking the opening game Tuesday was a big lift.

“It was huge,” Huber said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities. If we didn’t come back, that could have been a hit to our confidence if we let it slip away.”

In the Division II-AA semifinals:

No. 2 Corona del Mar 3, No. 3 South Torrance 0: The Sea Kings recorded the home sweep over South Torrance, 25-16, 25-21, 25-23, behind 10 kills from Morgan Boukather.

Madie Smith dished out 27 assists and had 13 digs. Corona del Mar is making its second straight CIF final appearance.

In the Division II-A semifinals:

La Canada 3, Troy 2: The Warriors fell in the semifinals, 18-25, 25-19, 26-24, 13-25, 15-11, for the second straight year to La Canada.

In the Division V-AA semifinals:

Saddleback Valley Christian 3, No. 1 Pacifica Christian 1: SVC knocked off the top seeds in four games, 25-12, 12-25, 25-22, 25-22, with 10 kills from Chelsea Duhs.