Evans Gets 28 Kills to Lead Newport Harbor in Volleyball

Jenny Evans had 28 kills to lead Newport Harbor High School to a 3-2 victory over Corona del Mar in a Sea View League-opening girls’ volleyball match Tuesday at Corona del Mar.

The Sailors, the top-ranked team in the Southern Section 4-A, defeated the second-ranked Sea Kings, 15-10, 8-15, 15-11, 8-15, 15-10, in a match that lasted 2 hours 20 minutes in front of an estimated--and very vocal--crowd of 300.

“I expected it to go to five very exciting games with Corona,” said Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn. “And I also hoped it would come down to Jenny.”

Glenn’s hopes were answered. Evans, a 5-foot 10-inch senior outside hitter, did little wrong during the match, passing, dinking, dumping, faking, even setting when necessary.

But Evans’ main weapon is her powerful spike, a two-step wind-up blast that broke a total of seven Sea King blocks.

But the Sea Kings also stuffed Evans seven times alone. Senior middle blocker Karen Smith led with seven blocks, and outside hitter/middle blocker Shauna Slingsby had five.

Though neither team ever had an opportunity to close the match without a fifth game, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar put on great rallies in the third and fourth games.

Down 0-11 in the third, the Sea Kings began going to outside hitter Laurie Sawin for kills. Sawin delivered three in a row, and a perfect corner kill helped Corona del Mar pull to within 11-7.

Newport Harbor surged to 14-7, but the Sea Kings came back again with four straight points before losing on an error, 15-11.

The fourth game saw the Sailors rally from a 10-1 deficit to finally lose, 15-8.

But it was in the final game that Newport Harbor really surged. After tying the game at 10-10, the Sailors began feeding Evans. Leading 12-10, Evans scored two straight kills, caused a Sea King pile-up with a kill, and, on match point, finished Corona del Mar off with a backcourt spike.