Newport Harbor boys earn D1 volleyball title

Sailors drop the first set before winning three consecutive sets to defeat Mustangs.

The Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team capped an outstanding year Saturday with the CIF Southern California Regional Division 1 championship after an impressive 18-25, 25-17, 25-12, 25-19 victory against Manhattan Beach Mira Costa.

Not only did the Sailors (39-1) beat the Mustangs for the second consecutive week after capturing the Southern Section title, Newport Harbor upended Mira Costa for the fourth time this year.

“This is just a huge sigh of relief,” Pepperdine-bound Joe Karlous said. “It’s pure happiness. All the 6 a.m. lifts, all the times we were pissed off at each other and then come together as a unit. It’s pure happiness.”

Things didn’t get off to a good start for the Sailors, who lost to Corona del Mar in the 2018 section and regional championship matches. Newport Harbor was flat and Mira Costa grabbed the first set. Newport Harbor quickly recovered and ran away with the match. An 11-9 lead in the second set grew to 14-10 and 20-15 before tying the match at a set apiece.

A 12-8 lead in the third set became 17-10 and Caden Garrido’s block ended it, giving Newport Harbor a 2-1 lead.

It was just more of the same in the fourth set. The early 9-5 lead swelled to 15-7 before a small comeback from Mira Costa made it 2318.

“In the huddle after we lost the first game, it was along the lines of like it’s time to go,” Karlous said. “It doesn’t matter what is in our way. Just go and go hard. The word is believe. That one word takes us where we want to go. We knew what they were capable of doing. Mira Costa is a good team. We just had to keep our foot on the pedal.”