Sailors can’t finish in thriller

CARSON — Two legendary high school boys’ volleyball coaches met once again with everything on the line.

Dan Glenn and Michael Cook kept changing chairs Saturday night, just like way back in 1987.

Back then, five games is how long it took for Glenn to guide Newport Harbor High to a perfect season capped with a CIF Southern Section championship win against Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach.

Twenty-one years later, the two coached another five-game thriller in a title match. But this time it was Cook rising from his chair all animated as Glenn just looked on in disbelief.

After taking the first two games, top-seeded Newport Harbor allowed No. 2 Mira Costa to come back and win the Division I title, 18-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-19, 15-9, giving the Mustangs their sixth section crown in school history.

As Mira Costa (32-5) celebrated at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Glenn looked stunned.

This was supposed to be Newport Harbor’s year after early-round playoff exits the last three seasons. With big-time seniors like UCLA-bound setter Kyle Caldwell, USC-bound opposite Tucker Peleuses and UC Santa Barbara-bound outside hitter Mark Liebermann, this had the makings of becoming Glenn’s best team since he took over in 1987.

But Newport Harbor (31-4), ranked the top team in the nation by Student Sports and Rivals.com, fell apart at the wrong time, suffering its first five-game loss this season.

“We gave them some life,� said Glenn, whose players showed very little emotion when it was over as they stood or sat motionless on the court. “We got ahead in that third game, then all of a sudden we let them back in.

“You can’t let a team like that back in the match.�

The Mustangs battled back when it appeared the Sailors killed their confidence in Game 2, where senior middle blocker Max Volz (15 kills), Peleuses (21 kills) and Liebermann (12 kills) recorded booming shots set up by Caldwell (51 assists).

But Cook, in his 29th year at Mira Costa, knew what to do next.

He just listened.

“I let [my assistant] Sean [Shoptaw] do the talking all the time,� Cook said. “He’s young, they listen to him.�

What Mira Costa’s players heard over and over was, ‘Keep competing! Keep competing!� They fought back, making sure this wouldn’t prove to be the second straight year Mira Costa finished runner-up. That plaque was for the Sailors, whose winning streak ended at 21 matches.

In the last two games, Mira Costa junior hitter Ian Satterfield exploded, hurting Newport Harbor’s chance to win its fourth title in its seventh section championship-match appearance. The Sailors last won the title in 1999.

Satterfield finished with 14 kills and seven blocks, and two teammates, hitter Steven Mochalski (19 kills and eight blocks) and hitter Dylan Kordic delivered (15 kills).

Kordic scored the clincher, ending the Sailors’ season and Caldwell’s opportunity of winning a section title at Newport Harbor like his father Bruce did in 1980.

“We just fell apart,� said Caldwell, who added eight kills, five digs and three blocks. “I think we just let up. It sucks. This was the last [match].�

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].