CdM still owns BOTB

Senior co-captain Jessie Harris pulled the Corona del Mar High girls’ volleyball team aside after it lost the opening set of Wednesday night’s Battle of the Bay match at Newport Harbor High.

Harris has been on varsity for four years, and did not want to lose the first match of her career to the rival Sailors. She spoke up to motivate the team.

And she wasn’t all talk. When the match was tied 1-1, Harris also made plays and served tough down the stretch of set three.

“She’s just a rock for us,” CdM Coach Steve Astor said after the Sea Kings gutted out a win in four sets, 18-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22, to capture the rivalry match for the sixth straight year.

The first word that Astor used to describe himself after the match was “tired,” and it was easy to understand why after the Battle of the Bay march started a bit after 7 p.m., an hour behind schedule.

Also credit the way that Newport Harbor (2-6) made the Sea Kings work for the victory, after being swept last year. Still, CdM (8-1), ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division 1AA, found a way to get the job done.

Harris led the team with 11 kills, and senior co-captain Natalia Bruening had 10 in the middle. Freshman middle blocker Kendall Kipp had nine, along with four blocks, and CdM also got good defense from the third senior co-captain, Payton Carter. Harris and Carter were all-tournament team selections for CdM at the Dave Mohs Tournament last weekend, when CdM finished tied for third after losing in the semifinals to Corona Santiago.

The Sailors put thoughts into the Sea Kings’ minds of losing two straight matches Wednesday. Astor credited Newport Harbor’s outside hitters for dictating play at the start of the match. Senior outside hitter Remy Wilson led all players with 16 kills, and fellow senior outside Madison Holland, who finished with seven kills, was tough in the opening set. She recorded four of them as the Sailors took the lead.

After CdM took set two, Newport Harbor still looked like it might take the lead back. The Sailors were up, 20-18, in set three after a kill from Wilson. Newport sophomore Vivian Donovan unleashed a tough serve, but CdM, scrambling into the corner, somehow got the point. Harris passed it back over the net and it fell on the Newport Harbor side.

Harris went back to serve, and she didn’t stop until CdM had set point at 24-20. Kipp had a kill and a block in the rally. A CdM pass went out of bounds to narrow the gap to 24-21, but then Kipp delivered a kill to give CdM a 2-1 sets lead.

Astor said the play of sophomore Ashley Humphreys (four blocks) also was big in the middle and end of the match, to slow down Newport’s outside hitters.

Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn also saw the Sailors start slow in the fourth set, when CdM took an 11-7 lead on a block by Alex Osterberg and Bruening. It was 16-10 when Carter served up her second ace, tying her with Osterberg and Harris for team-high honors.

Overall, CdM had a 9-4 lead in aces.

Newport Harbor closed to 23-22 in the fourth set when a CdM angle shot didn’t go over the net, but Kipp’s kill set up match point and the Sea Kings converted it with a block by Humphreys and Kipp.

Senior setter Ellie Hagadorn dished out 36 assists for the Sailors, who got 10 kills from Donovan and eight from senior lefty opposite Amanda Walker. Yet, to Glenn, a key difference was that CdM got more production from its middle blockers.

Still, he was happy to see his team compete. He knows the Sunset League will be tough as usual, with Los Alamitos (ranked No. 6 in Division 1AA), Huntington Beach (No. 9) and Edison all a handful.

“We need to play at this level to compete in league and make the playoffs,” Glenn said.