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Boys’ Volleyball: Oilers sweep Sailors

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Steve Timmons returned to Newport Harbor High to have his No. 6 jersey retired. The two-time U.S. Olympic men’s volleyball gold medalist brought his family to the gym on Friday.

He wasn’t the only household name in the building. His wife is Debbe Dunning, who played the “Tool Time girl” role on the popular “Home Improvement” TV sitcom during the 1990s.

The Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball team is in need of some home improvement. The program, which missed the CIF Southern Section playoffs last year for the first time since 1985, is in rebuilding mode.

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Timmons was able to see his alma mater up close and see how far Newport Harbor has to go to play with the most dominant program in the CIF Southern Section.

Timmons’ stay at Newport Harbor was short with Huntington Beach easily sweeping the Sunset League match, 25-11, 25-15, 25-8. The Oilers extended their winning streak to 86 matches, a section record.

“They haven’t lost in a long time,” Newport Harbor assistant coach Dan Glenn said of the Oilers, whose last setback came on March 18, 2013. “The disappointing thing, like [head coach] Rocky [Ciarelli] would say, is we didn’t compete. That was the tough thing. Sure they’re a really, really good team and stuff. It’s about going out there fighting and competing, and we had a little trouble with that.

“It’s a long season, and hopefully we learn from this and we’re better the next time we play them.”

The Sailors (6-11, 1-2 in league) won’t see the Oilers, the two-time defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champions, again until April 28. They also won’t see any action against any team during spring break next week. Ciarelli and Glenn are giving the Sailors a few days off, before resuming practice at the end of the week.

The Oilers (22-0, 3-0) have plans in Hawaii next week. They’re traveling to Honolulu for the Clash of the Titans tournament, playing the likes of Punahou and Hawaii Baptist Academy.

Only three teams have won a set against Huntington Beach this year. The previous two have been league opponents, Edison and Los Alamitos. The Sailors never stood a chance of pushing the match to four sets.

Future Long Beach State players TJ DeFalco and Josh Tuaniga led the way for Huntington Beach. DeFalco, a senior outside hitter, finished with 15 kills and 2 1/2 blocks, and Tuaniga, a senior setter, totaled 29 assists, four service aces, three kills and 2 1/2 blocks.

The Oilers’ experience and talent overwhelmed the young Sailors. Newport Harbor has only two seniors, outside hitters Grady Kimme and Collin Schlesinger. Kimme stuffed a DeFalco shot in the opening set and Schlesinger had a couple of kills in the second set.

Before the third set, Timmons left his seat in the bleachers and walked onto the court. Glenn and Timmons hugged near the sideline, and then Glenn, a Huntington Beach graduate, introduced his former high school volleyball rival and former Orange Coast College volleyball teammate.

“He’s the first one to kind of hit out of the back row,” Glenn said of Timmons, who after graduating from Newport Harbor in 1977 went on to play for OCC, USC and the U.S. “He kind of changed the game.”

Craig Pazanti, Huntington Beach’s coach, believes Glenn and Ciarelli will turn things around at Newport Harbor. The Sailors are still the last program to beat the Oilers in league four years ago.

Pazanti got over on Ciarelli, his former coach at Huntington Beach, where Ciarelli coached from 1985 to 2008. The Oilers have won 33 matches in a row in league.

“I’ve coached against [Ciarelli] before, but not where he wasn’t coaching at Huntington, so it was a little different,” said Pazanti, who took over for Ciarelli in 2009. “Obviously, I want to see Rocky be successful. He’s the reason I’m doing what I do. They’re real young and they play hard.

“He knows he’s got a young squad, and they’re a good squad, too. You get him and Danny together, and with this group, they’re going to be back where Newport’s used to being pretty quickly.”

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