Warriors sweep by Newport Harbor

Richard Dunn

With two key starters out of the lineup with knee injuries, spring

break couldn’t come any quicker for the Newport Harbor High boys

volleyball team, which was humbled by host Woodbridge, 15-10, 15-5,

15-5, in a Sea View League match Thursday night between the league’s

two previously undefeated teams.

The Sailors, however, will gladly welcome the return of 6-foot-8

junior middle blocker Jamie Diefenbach, who is recovering from a torn

ACL and expected to play for the first time this season when Coach

Dan Glenn’s squad comes back from the break against Foothill on the

road April 22.

Glenn said passing and his team’s inability to run the middle

contributed greatly to the loss, the program’s first against

Woodbridge in at least 10 years.

“I was disappointed, because I don’t think we fought,” said Glenn,

who added that his team (10-9, 3-1 in league) didn’t respond well in

a big match.

“We’ll keep working hard, and we get another shot at Woodbridge at

our place ... this is a tough place to play. We would’ve had to play

our best match of the season to win here and we didn’t. We made way

too many unforced errors. I don’t think Woodbridge (11-4, 4-0) played its best ball, but you don’t have to when you win 10, 5 and 5.”

Newport Harbor, ranked No. 8 in Orange County, opened with a 4-1

lead in the first game behind some solid serving, but No. 3

Woodbridge rallied to outscore the Sailors, 14-6, the rest of the

way.

“We were ready,” said Woodbridge Coach Andrew Clifton, whose team

was paced by 6-4 senior Michael Moeller’s 17 kills and Alex

Avestruz’s eight kills, four blocks [three solo] and two service

aces, while setters Jon Winder and Ryan Walthall finished with 19 and

13 assists, respectively.

“Foothill was a great precursor for this match, because it plays a

lot like Newport Harbor. Our solid passing and defense made the

difference. When we pass the ball well, it opens things up a lot for

us, because we have so many weapons in so many areas. It’s hard to

prepare for us.”

Woodbridge, hoping to win its first league title since 1988,

dominated the second and third games after coming from behind in the

opener.

“When Jamie comes back after the break, that will help us ... we

had zero kills in that one spot in this match,” said Glenn, whose

team is also missing 6-4 sophomore Brett Perrine and lost the backup

middle services of 6-9 Nedim Pajevic, who quit the team recently.

Michael Toole, a 6-1 senior outside hitter, led Newport Harbor

with seven kills, while 6-3 Paul Toman added five, Morgan Govaars

four and Nick Glassic two.

“We served tough at the beginning and we took them out of their

game a little, but then they started passing better,” Glenn said of

the Warriors.

Despite trailing by two games, the Sailors, who made 13 hitting

errors in the match and never led in the second game, battled in the

third game, taking a 3-2 edge. An early run of 12 straight sideouts

was an indication that the Sailors might rebound, but the Warriors

rallied for seven consecutive points to take a 9-3 lead. Moeller had

eight of his kills in the third for Woodbridge, which closed out the

match by scoring six unanswered points.