Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball halted by top-seeded Loyola

LOS ANGELES – The Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team ran into a buzzsaw of an opponent in top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola on Wednesday night.

After a highly-competitive first set, the Sailors were unable to make their mark in the two games that followed and fell to the host Cubs, 25-23, 25-20, 25-18, in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal.

Asked directly how frustrating it could be to reach this stage and not advance to the final, Sailors coach Rocky Ciarelli referenced his age in a manner that was far from facetious.

“I’m an old man,” he said. “I’m a grandpa, so getting this far is not easy. It’s tough.”

In short, Ciarelli was trying to convey that these trips are to be cherished. Newport Harbor (28-4) was competing in its first semifinal since 2008.

While the Sailors concede this round, there is more to come. Ciarelli said that Newport Harbor will be entered into the SoCal Regionals.

Beyond that, the core of this Sunset League championship team will be in place when the calendar turns to next season.

“We’re still probably, by far, the youngest team playing,” Ciarelli stated. “We have three sophomores. I have two or three seniors starting, and two juniors.

“We’re a relatively young team to be in this position. The kids have done a good job. We won a tough league.”

Newport Harbor was up for the majority of the first game against Loyola (26-1), but they were caught at 16-all. The Cubs took their first lead since the third point of the match when Princeton-bound Brady Wedbush came up with a block to make it 19-18.

Ian Parish, the grandson of Dick Butkus, authored the point that gave Loyola set point, and Will Bantle finished it off to fend off the threatening Sailors.

A six-point run early in the second game provided Loyola with separation at 8-4. JP Reilly, a Stanford commit, was particularly active as an outside hitter for the Cubs.

Despite the best efforts of mid-blocker Spencer Lawrence and outside hitters Cole Pender and Dayne Chalmers, the Sailors were never able to draw even in the set.

“If we get all four hitters involved, we’re pretty good, especially if we’re in system,” Cubs coach Michael Boehle said. “Some people knock us for not having the setter that we’ve had in the past. We’ve got great hitters, we’ve got great ball control.

“We get everyone involved, and when we do that, the blocking team on the other side, they have no idea what is going on.”

Reilly, Bantle, and Wedbush each recorded 10 kills for Loyola, with Luke Hardesty notching 28 assists.

A long night for Newport Harbor was capped by a final set which saw Loyola win, 25-18. Ciarelli also drew a yellow card in the final game, after his second extended argument with the officials.

Loyola has reached the championship match for the fifth time in six seasons. The Cubs will face Corona del Mar in the final.

Pender had a game-high 14 kills for Newport Harbor. Chalmers added eight kills, and Landon Monroe had four kills and 17 assists.

Lawrence chipped in with four kills and four blocks, and Ethan Talley had six kills.

[email protected]

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner