Tars can’t find knockout

NEWPORT BEACH — Point for point, kill for kill and dig for dig. Powerhouse girls’ volleyball programs, Newport Harbor High and Los Alamitos, were virtually even in every aspect on Thursday with one exception: late-game mistakes.

“We didn’t make some key plays at key times,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “We missed a couple serves [because] every time I thought we had them on the ropes, we let them off the hook.”

The Sailors also let a chance at first place in the Sunset League slip away against the Griffins, who won, 25-17, 24-26, 26-24, 25-23, at Newport Harbor.

Los Alamitos, ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division I-AA, remained unbeaten in league. The Sailors couldn’t find a knockout blow.

In the last two games, Newport Harbor (14-5, 4-2 in league), ranked No. 6 in CIF Division I-AA, had a lead going into the final five points but was unable to close out the Griffins.

In the fourth game, the Sailors went up, 23-19, after one of Katey Thompson’s nine kills. But they could not hang on.

Los Alamitos (18-5, 6-0) went on a 6-0 run to end the match and silence the excitement in the packed Newport Harbor gym.

Newport Harbor was unable to put and end to the Griffins when it got late in three of the four games.

“The girls fought back [throughout],” Glenn said. “We didn’t play that well the first game but came back and did a good job.”

After a first-game loss, the Sailors fell behind, 8-4, very quickly in the second game. After a timeout, a sense of urgency appeared to hit the team. Newport Harbor was able to regain focus and regain the lead. It went on a 7-2 run to make it 12-10 and it looked like the Sailors had the momentum.

But Los Alamitos would not stop attacking.

As Newport Harbor eyed a finish going up, 22-19, Los Alamitos, led by standout outside-hitter Jane Croson, came back and tied it at 23. After going back and forth, Newport held off Los Alimitos and came away with its only game of the match.

In Game 3, senior setter, Arielle Lysacek started to cramp in her lower left leg and was forced to play a limited role, finishing with 18 assists. Freshman setter, Cinnamon Sary came in for Lysacek and made some solid plays, tallying 11 assists, but the absence of Lysacek at the net was noticable. The team could never really get into a groove with the new rotation.

But, Newport Harbor had some great moments against a great team. Every point seemed hard-fought with long rallies and key plays on both sides. As each team seemed to gain some momentum, the other stepped up and earned a big point. Only a few times in the match was one team up by four or more points. The last four games were close and the packed crowd at Newport Harbor never had a dull moment.

Kirby Burnham and Thompson had nine kills apiece and Mary Buckingham followed with eight. Mackenzi Campbell had 13 digs with Kelly Heennan chipping in 11.

“You got to close a good team out when you got them down and we didn’t do that,” Glenn said. “We just need to keep getting better. We need to rebound from this; work on not making mistakes. That is something that is curable as a coach though.”

The Sailors will try to rebound in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions starting today.