PREP ROUNDUP : Newport Harbor Quickly Dispatches Laguna Beach

Misty May and her volleyball-crunching teammates at Newport Harbor jump-started their season with a three-game sweep early in the week and a repeat performance Thursday night against Laguna Beach.

The second-ranked Sailors took little time and allowed little resistance from No. 3 Laguna Beach in the 15-2, 15-8, 15-12 victory that Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said wasn’t a true indicator of the Artists’ talent.

“That means nothing,” he said. “We beat a very good team that didn’t play well.”

But Newport Harbor (2-0) did. May led the way with 21 kills, with Tina Bowman, Melissa Schutz and Sara Fairborn contributing seven each.

Laguna Beach’s sole threat came after the Sailors shot to an 8-0 lead in the third game. The Artists won 10 of the next 13 points to pull to 11-10, but key defensive plays kept the match a short one.

“On key plays, people didn’t how to keep the ball in,” said Hilary Kyle, who led Laguna Beach (0-1) with 11 kills. Lisa Ravensberg had five kills for the Artists.