Holbrook no longer with Sailors
Newport Harbor High senior standout Alex Holbrook has quit the girls’ volleyball team, she said in a Facebook message Saturday night.
She declined to comment further.
Holbrook, an outside hitter, did not show up to Newport Harbor’s home victory against Marina Friday, Sailors Coach Dan Glenn said.
She left in the middle of Thursday’s practice, Glenn said.
“She wasn’t too happy with me,” Glenn said.
He said he has not spoken to her since and was unaware she quit the team.
“If that’s her decision I respect her decision and I wish her nothing but the best,” said Glenn, who added he did not know why Holbrook left the team.
As a sophomore, Holbrook contributed to the Sailors’ banner year, as Newport Harbor won the CIF State Division I title and the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA championship.
Last year, Holbrook’s season was cut short as she sustained a season-ending knee injury. She suffered tears to her anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus in her right knee.
She came back strong in her senior year as one of the top players on Glenn’s team. She had 20 kills in the Sailors’ five-set loss at Edison Wednesday, Glenn said. He thought she played very well.
“I enjoyed coaching her,” Glenn said. “Hopefully I get a chance to talk to her, but we had one of our best matches of the year on Friday and I’m focused on the girls who want to be here. We have a match ahead that we need to win and that’s what we’re going to work on.”
Glenn, who also coaches the boys’ team, said he has never had a player leave the team at this point in the season in his 26 years of coaching.
“I’ve always told my kids, if you’re not in here 100% then you shouldn’t be out here. That’s what I firmly believe,” Glenn said. “I want the kids to be 100%. I love coaching her and she’s a great, great kid. I have nothing but good things to say about her.”
Glenn has been known to be positive, yet stern with his players. He usually puts his teams through rigorous conditioning in preparation for the season. He has difficult drills for players who make mistakes. In 2009, when the Sailors won the aforementioned titles, Glenn said he believes a match is a day that belongs to the players. But when it comes to practice, “this is my world,” he said.
During the 2009 season, Glenn put his team through one of the roughest practices of the year after a big win over Los Alamitos.
His coaching style is respected by many and has also brought success. He won a CIF Southern Section title in his first year coaching the boys and the next season won a CIF section title with the girls.
In his career at Newport Harbor, his girls’ teams have captured four CIF state championships and six CIF section titles. He also won two CIF section titles coaching the boys.
This year, he remains confident the girls’ team can compete for a state title.
He said this is a big week for the Sailors (15-6, 4-3 in the Sunset League), who ended the past week ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA poll. They play at Los Alamitos Tuesday and at home against Huntington Beach on Thursday before competing in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
“It’s an exciting part of the year,” Glenn said.
steve.virgen@latimes.com
Twitter: @SteveVirgen