Harbor eliminated at Wilson

LONG BEACH — The crowd had already been introduced to the Newport Harbor High players before the girls’ volleyball match.

A group of rowdy fans at Long Beach Wilson decided to reintroduce the Sailors after the first game.

From a sheet of paper, one fan yelled out the names one by one. It became obvious the heckler read off last year’s roster because some of the players graduated in the spring.

The Sailors couldn’t help themselves. Some players laughed. Others looked over at the fans jeering them on.

“Where are you?” the fan continued to ask when the said player was nowhere in the gymnasium.

Newport Harbor probably could’ve used some of last year’s seniors to beat Long Beach Wilson for the second straight year in the playoffs.

The No. 2-seeded Bruins swept the Sailors, 26-24, 25-23, 25-12, in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA quarterfinals Saturday night.

The Sailors (24-8) missed out on back-to-back semifinal appearances when they were unable to close out the first two games.

Long Beach Wilson (28-3) advances to play No. 3-seeded Santa Margarita (24-7) on Tuesday.

“I think we were a different team last year,” said Newport Harbor senior outside hitter Mary Buckingham, referring to losing four seniors earning first-team All-Sunset League honors in 2007. “We were more ready to play last year.

“The first two games were really close. We kind of just kept thinking about [the] past bad plays and kind of got down on ourselves.”

The Bruins took advantage.

In a match against an elite program, Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said you can’t afford to mentally get down.

Glenn has had his battles against Long Beach Wilson, whether they’re in boys’ or girls’ action.

Long Beach Wilson Coach Susan Pescar has been on the other side of many of them, including last year’s second-round loss at Newport Harbor.

The last time these two coaches met was at the elite Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii in August. Back then, the competition wasn’t close.

“They absolutely crushed us,” Glenn said.

The Sailors this time pushed the Bruins early on.

Newport Harbor entered the semis on a roll, winning seven straight matches. Four of the wins were sweeps. No match went five games during the stretch.

This one wouldn’t either.

It looked like it might go the distance. Junior Kirby Burnham dropped a service ace, giving the Sailors a 24-21 advantage in Game 1.

Eight times the two teams tied the score in the opening game.

There wouldn’t be another one until Game 2.

Long Beach Wilson junior Kellie Culbertson recorded two of her 15 kills during a 5-0 run to claim the first game.

“That first game we let it slip away,” Glenn said. “On the road, you can’t do that.”

The home fans let the Sailors know about it after switching sides before Game 2.

The crowd tried to rattle Newport Harbor with the player introductions. From how Newport Harbor began Game 2, it appeared to work.

The Sailors fell behind, 6-2, and Glenn called for a timeout. When play resumed, Long Beach Wilson’s lead continued to grow before Buckingham and Burnham rallied the Sailors.

Burnham cut the lead to 24-23 with one of her team-high 11 kills. Newport Harbor went on a 5-1 spurt started by Buckingham hammering a kill.

The Sailors never scored again in the second game as Long Beach Wilson won on a dump.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].