Though the Newport Harbor High boys volleyball...

Though the Newport Harbor High boys volleyball team has struggled to

consistently show the high level of play Sailor fans have been

spoiled on in recent years, 17th-year coach Dan Glenn insists the

Tars aren’t far away from becoming an elite team this spring.

So, after the Sailors labored somewhat to a 15-4, 15-7, 9-15, 15-6 Sea View League-opening triumph over visiting Aliso Niguel Tuesday,

Glenn revealed what he believes the missing ingredient may be.

Perhaps, more correctly, who the missing ingredient may be.

“I think this group is missing some personality,” said Glenn, who

doesn’t have to reach far to put his finger on a candidate to provide

just that. Glenn, in fact, need only reach directly beside him on the

Sailor bench, where 6-foot-8 junior Jamie Diefenbach edges closer to

returning from surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in the preseason

basketball practice.

“Jamie is loud on the court, which is something we don’t really

have right now,” Glenn said. “I like the group we have, but they are

just a bunch of quiet guys.”

Diefenbach, whose net presence would obviously be another welcome

addition, could be cleared to play after spring vacation, Glenn said,

which would mean a possible return for the final match of the first

round of league, April 22 against Foothill.

Until then, however, the Sailors will continue to battle, perhaps

more concerned with earning a top-three guaranteed playoff spot than

defending their Sea View crown.

“I’m still fired up about this group,” said Glenn, who no longer

has the services of 6-foot-9 senior Nedim Pajevic, who quit the team

last week. “I really believe we’re real close to playing some very

good volleyball. We’ve already played well, in spots, this year.”

There were such instances against the Wolverines, particularly in

the blocking department, where six players contributed to the team’s

14 stuff blocks.

Seniors Michael Toole and Paul Toman led the roofing company with

five and four blocks, respectively, while senior Nick Glassic, junior

Morgan Govaars, junior setter Adam Schlesinger and senior Chad Rorden

also got into the act.

“It was nice to see us blocking better tonight, because that’s

something we’ve really been working on in practice,” Glenn said.

“It’s nice to see immediate progress on something like that, because

it shows we’re getting better.”

The Sailors were clearly better than the visitors Tuesday, a point

they illustrated by scoring the first six points of the match, the

final nine points of the first game, then following a similar pattern

to claim the second game.

In the third game, however, Newport saw a 5-1 lead turn into a

12-5 deficit, before the Sailors rallied to make it close.

And after Aliso posted leads of 2-0 and 4-1 in the fourth game,

Glenn told his players it was time to regain command.

“I really became a cheerleader in that fourth game, because I

didn’t want to have to go five games,” Glenn said.

A Toman stuff block pulled the Sailors even at 5-5 and Toman

continued the momentum with a quick-set kill and another stuff block

for points.

Toole added a stuff block to make it 8-5, Sailors, then added

another point with a kill.

A service winner by senior Ryan Newell capped a run of seven

points on his serve, a spurt that began with an ace.

Senior Nick Kelly finished out the match at the service line,

thumping an ace, followed by a service winner for the final two

points to get Newport Harbor off on the right foot in league.

Toole led the Sailors with 15 kills, while Glassic and Toman each

added seven.

“It’s a win and that’s always big, especially in league,” Glenn

said. “We’re going to try to get ready for a big one Friday at

Irvine, where my teams have had a history of not playing well.”

Lightning quieted

* The Sage Hill School boys volleyball team suffered its first

setback of the season, falling, 15-7, 15-5, 12-15, 15-7, to Academy League visitor St. Margaret’s Tuesday.

Junior Kevin Joyce paced the Lightning (7-1, 5-1 in league) with

23 kills and three aces, while Macsun Frederick added nine kills.

St. Margaret’s improved to 6-2, 4-1.