Newport Harbor Girls Sweep Past CdM in Volleyball

Newport Harbor High School showed it had more offense than its star outside hitter, Jenny Evans, Thursday night as the Sailors scored a convincing 15-8, 15-7, 15-12 Sea View League victory over Corona del Mar in a rematch between the Southern Section 5-A’s top two teams at Newport Harbor.

Evans led top-ranked Newport Harbor (10-0, 6-0) with 24 kills, but she received plenty of help from middle hitter/blocker Anastasia Arnold and setter Sienna Curci.

Arnold had 11 kills and 8 blocks; Curci had 6 aces using a jump serve and had 63 assists.

“(Curci) ran the whole show,” said Charlie Brande, Corona del Mar coach. “She was setting the ball in places where we had no defenders, and when you do things like that, you’re going to control the game, and that’s what she did.”

Said Danny Glenn, Newport Harbor coach: “When we beat them last time (Sept. 29 in five games), we depended on Jenny to carry us offensively. This time, we had a lot of people contribute, which makes us that much a better team and allows Jenny more openings than she would otherwise have.”

No. 2 Corona del Mar (15-2, 4-2) came closest to winning a set in the third game. The Sea Kings scored seven straight points to pull to a 11-11 tie, but Newport Harbor scored four of the game’s final five points to win the match.