Newport Harbor Rallies Past Corona del Mar in Five-Set Thriller, 3-2

Newport Harbor set the tone in set one, winning 25-17 on its home court. Corona del Mar answered with two tight sets. The Sea Kings won set two 25-23, then took set three by the same score to lead 2-1. They were one set from a road win over a Newport Harbor team that has won 16 of its last 19 home matches.

The Sailors responded with their best volleyball of the night. They won set four 25-9, then closed the match with a 15-4 win in the fifth set. Across those last two sets, Newport Harbor outscored Corona del Mar 40-13. The Sailors outscored the Sea Kings 111-80 across the full match.

The result avenged some of the pressure from the first meeting this season. Newport Harbor beat Corona del Mar 3-1 on Sept. 14 at Corona del Mar, and the Sea Kings pushed the Sailors much harder the second time.

Corona del Mar came in on a three-match winning streak, which included road wins at Long Beach Wilson and Millikan and a 3-1 home win over Edison on Oct. 6. The loss snapped that run and drops the Sea Kings to 21-8. Newport Harbor improves to 27-6 and sits at 9-2 in Sunset League play.

The two programs play again on Tuesday, Oct. 13, but against other opponents. Newport Harbor faces Huntington Beach (21-11), which is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Marina, at 5:45 p.m. Corona del Mar faces Los Alamitos (28-6) at the same time.