Newport Harbor girls’ volleyball beats Sage Hill in opener
The Newport Harbor High girls’ volleyball team opened the season against an in-city rival in Sage Hill.
While many of the players may have known the opposition on the other side of the net, Sailors coach Dan Glenn did not think it became a major focus for his team.
“When you’re playing some of these teams later in the year, then I think it’s a little different as far as that,” Glenn said of playing a crosstown foe. “We’re learning how to swim right now.”
The host Sailors looked good in their preliminary lesson, mounting a comeback for a 21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-22 nonleague victory on Tuesday night.
Sophomore opposite Emma Coatsworth had a team-high 10 kills for Newport Harbor, which played eight lowerclassmen.
Sophomore middle blockers Gabbi Higgs and Anne O’Brien finished with nine kills and seven kills, respectively. Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Ihrig also had seven kills for the Sailors.
Sage Hill, which fell to 1-6 overall, deployed Andrea Li (18 assists) and Zoe Stern (four assists and one service ace) at various times in the first set. The Lightning still found enough continuity in a 5-1 system to pull out Game 1. Ashley Sarkisian provided the kill that clinched the first set.
Newport Harbor struck back in the second set. Ihrig came off the bench to give the Sailors four kills and an ace in Game 2 as Newport Harbor evened the match.
“I was kind of nervous, but then my teammates helped cheer me up,” Ihrig said. “They were supporting me, so I got a little more confidence from them. It kind of just boosted me up, and it made me better.”
Freshman outside hitter Sophie Wang and Sarkisian led the Lightning with eight kills apiece. Junior middle blocker Natalia Bryant had five kills, senior middle blocker Zoe Mazakas had two blocks, and senior libero Ashley Sung chipped in with two aces in the fourth set.
“She expended a lot of energy that first game, and she can do it, but it started to get her a little bit out of her rhythm,” Lightning coach Dan Thomassen said of Wang, who he said is a young freshman at 13 years old. “They were serving [to] her a lot, and [she was] having to block and dig, so we gave her a couple of little rests.
“I thought she came back from her rest and was just great at the end.”
Newport Harbor won the first six points of Game 4 on senior setter Jasmine Amirie’s serve. After the Lightning closed to within one point, the Sailors built their lead back up to 17-11.
Sage Hill briefly took a 22-21 lead when Li reacted to a Newport Harbor kill attempt in the middle and found an open spot on the Sailors’ side of the net.
Newport Harbor continued to set the middle, going to O’Brien for three consecutive kills before a hitting error by Wang ended the match.
“It was so amazing,” O’Brien said of being relied upon down the stretch. “I couldn’t have done it without the setters. All my teammates cheering me on, it was so uplifting. It felt amazing.”
Freshman setter Tegan Glenn led the Sailors with 16 assists, while Amirie had 13 assists.
With the recent graduations of outside hitters Amiyah De’Long (Stony Brook University) and Sydnee Francis, the Lightning lost a lot of firepower. Danielle Beder set for the Lightning last season, but Sage Hill plans to have her hit again. Thomassen said that she is nearing a return to the court following concussion protocol.
“She trains so hard over the summer on the beach that her timing and her athleticism are all so much better,” Thomassen said of Beder. “We’ve got good setters, so we need her to get kills and blocks. I think she is ready for that, and her defense is great, too.”
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