Newport Harbor knocks off No. 1 Los Alamitos in volleyball

The second-ranked Newport Harbor Sailors might have been disappointed after not being allowed to travel to Santa Barbara this past weekend for the Tournament of Champions.

However, Tuesday night the Sailors (21-3, 8-1) turned their attention back to the capturing the Sunset League title and moved closer to one of their goals with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 road victory over No. 1 Los Alamitos (26-5, 7-1).

If both teams win the remainder of their league matches, they will end up in a tie for the Sunset League title. However, Newport Harbor would advance as the top seed from the Sunset League because of the games-won tiebreaker.

“We did a nice job of never letting them get into a flow, which they did the last time against us,” Newport Harbor coach Dan Glenn said. “(The last time) they got comfortable, and they're a tough team to stop once they get comfortable because they (Los Alamitos) have so much size.

“We did a really nice job, I don't even know if I can single out one person.”

It was another typical team effort for the Sailors in their victory.

Megan Munce led the Sailors with 15 kills with Mary Buckingham (seven), Jamie Heenan and Alesha Young adding six apiece. Kelly Heenan (17), Buckingham (14) and Young (10) reached double figures in digs.

“We knew what to expect this time, and we prepared for it,” Munce said.

The Sailors have one final league match remaining, Thursday against Marina. The Griffins, on the other hand, have to face Esperanza (Thursday) and Edison (Friday).

Los Alamitos won the first meeting between the teams back on Oct. 11 in five games. The Griffins opened that match with a deciding first game victory and eventually went on to win the match. Tuesday, the Sailors controlled the flow of the match from the outset.

“This is what you want out of your team at the end of the year,” Glenn said. “Tonight, we got off to a good start and kept it going. We know that we have it within us to play at another level, so hopefully this is great momentum for us.”

In the South Coast League:

No. 7 San Clemente 3, No. 4 Capistrano Valley 2:The Tritons (17-4, 7-1) received 20 kills from Erin Yoder and 70 assists from Allie Hammer in a 23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 29-31, 15-12 home victory over the Cougars (28-3, 8-1).

In the Pacific Coast League:

No. 10 Corona del Mar 3, University 1:Sydney Brombal had 17 kills and 17 digs for the Sea Kings (13-7, 6-0) in a 14-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-18 road victory.

Corona del Mar had six other players reach double digit in kills, led by Ashley Pries who had 27.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com