No. 4 Sailors Thump San Clemente in Volleyball

With his violent laser-like kills, Newport Harbor outside hitter Cody Caldwell was playing like the future college volleyball player that he is and his San Clemente opponents had no answer.

Caldwell was the difference as the Sailors swept the Tritons in their second-round match of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 volleyball playoffs Thursday night at Newport Harbor High. The 6-foot-6 senior, bound for Loyola University (Ill.), had 17 kills, several of them in key moments, in a 25-17, 25-19, 25-13 victory.

The Sunset League champion Sailors (24-8) will travel to Westlake High on Saturday to meet the Marmonte League champion Warriors  (26-4) in a quarterfinal match beginning at 7 p.m. On Thursday, Westlake defeated Servite in four games, 30-32, 28-26, 25-21, 26-24.

Newport Harbor, which was eliminated from last year's playoffs in the quarterfinals, has lost its only meeting with Westlake this season. In a tournament on March 11 at Alliant International University in San Diego, the Sailor fell to the Warriors in three tight games, 25-27, 25-21, 12-15.

“We played really well,” Newport Harbor head coach Dan Glenn said after Thursday's victory. “That’s as good a volleyball match as we’ve played all season. We played real aggressively.”

Caldwell was the key to a 5-0 run that turned a 17-15 lead in the second game into a 22-15 lead, allowing for some breathing room. Caldwell had two kills during that run, then his kill on game point gave Newport Harbor its 2-0 lead.

In the third game, Caldwell outfought a San Clemente blocker on a 50-50 ball, which was touched by a Tritons blocker and landed out of bounds, giving the Sailors a 7-1 lead. Caldwell even converted on an awkward left-handed, off-balance hit that led to a point for an 11-4 lead.

“I have to keep a level mind,” Caldwell said. “It’s not what I do, it’s what I can do for the team. We stomped on them in the first and third games.”

Newport Harbor’s attack was fairly even, with senior outside hitter Rusty Sary contributing 11 kills, 6-9 middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw coming up with six kills and three blocks, and freshman middle blocker Clay Carr putting down five kills and two blocks.

“It’s never going to be [perfectly] even,” Glenn said. “I thought Rusty played the best match of the season, so did our middle blockers. For us to advance, we need more than one guy doing it for us. There’s too many good teams out there. We can’t rely on one guy.”

Scott Hair kept it competitive for San Clemente (24-7), the second-place team from the South Coast League. He had seven kills, while Travis Wilson, Dillon Hoffman and Jack Yoder each put away three.

“They played well,” Hair said. “We did our best. We had a good season.”

A feverish pace highlighted early play in the first game, as Newport Harbor took a 10-7 lead. Three hits by the Tritons went wide and they trailed, 13-8. Caldwell had a straight-down hard kill for a 16-10 lead, and Sary delivered hit after hit from his left-side perch as part of the winning formula.

“We’re focusing on one game at a time,” Caldwell said. “The one team we’re focusing on is ourselves.”