Opoulos Setting an Example of Excellence : Prep volleyball: His decision to add to his sports repertoire is netting big dividends for Newport Harbor High School.

NEWPORT BEACH —  One can’t fault Alex Opoulos for making a hasty decision to join the Newport Harbor High School boys’ volleyball team three years ago.

Let’s say he was, well, a little uncomfortable when he made it.

“I was in history class and I had to go to the bathroom,” Opoulos said. “I raised my hand and asked the teacher (Dan Glenn) if I could go.”

Glenn, who is the Sailors’ volleyball coach, saw his chance. He had been trying to lure a reluctant Opoulos into the gym for the last few weeks.

“Dan told me he wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom unless I went out for the team,” Opoulos said.

It didn’t take Opoulos long to decide.

“I gave in and told him I would,” he said.

Opoulos, now a 6-foot senior, is in his second year as the starting setter with the varsity team.

He helped Newport Harbor reach the Southern Section 4-A semifinals last year and is considered by many coaches as the best setter in Orange County this season. He has 80 assists and nine aces in two matches.

“There are other setters who are as good as he is technically,” Glenn said, “but his defense and his serving make him a better player.”

The Sailors have struggled to an 0-2 start, losing to top-ranked Huntington Beach and Edison. Glenn benched three players, including two starters, for the first two matches for disciplinary reasons.

“That put a lot of pressure on Alex,” Glenn said. “It was a big adjustment for him to set to different players. We got our butts kicked in those games, but we’re better off because of it.”

Opoulos agreed.

“It was a gutsy move by Coach,” he said. “We started off 0-2 last year but we won 14 of our next 18 and made the CIF semis. I think we can surprise a lot of people.”

And Opoulos knows all about surprises--some pleasant, some not.

His athletic career at Newport Harbor started on the football field. He played quarterback on the freshman team, but his stint was cut short after he tore ligaments in his left knee against El Toro.

“I was dropping back for a pass and I was hit from the side,” Opoulos said as he rubbed the side of his knee, which is still covered by an elastic brace.

The knee healed without surgery, and Opoulos stepped onto the volleyball court that spring wearing a bulky brace.

“My freshman year went kind of slow,” he said. “My knee still bothers me sometimes. It’s kind of like an old car. Once I get it warm, it’s OK.”

Opoulos was wearing the bulky brace the day Glenn convinced him to play volleyball. Glenn knew the knee was healing and saw plenty of potential in Opoulos.

“He’s a good kid and he was getting an ‘A’ in my class,” Glenn said. “You want those kind of kids on your team. He had a lot of confidence, not just athletically, but as a person. You need that with a setter.”

Setters run a volleyball team’s offense much like a quarterback does in football. Opoulos takes the first pass, then decides whether to tap it outside to a hitter or set it up inside for a middle blocker.

“I always like to be in the position in sports where I can control things,” Opoulos said. “That way, if we lose, I can blame it on myself and no one else.”

Opoulos also has taken control on the soccer field. He scored 11 goals this season and led the Sailors to the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division 1-A tournament.

Opoulos started playing indoor soccer at age 4 in Summit, N.J. He played in the Newport Beach youth leagues after he and his mother moved to California when he was 10.

He was surprised by the rough style of soccer played on the West Coast.

“We had more manners when we played on the East Coast,” he said. “I played a lot of sports back in New Jersey--baseball, hockey, soccer. When I got out here, there wasn’t any hockey and the soccer was a step down from New Jersey.”

Opoulos hopes to play soccer or volleyball in college. He might try both. He’s narrowed his choices to UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and California.

Each school fields soccer and volleyball teams except Cal, which has a club volleyball team.

“I didn’t think I could play soccer in college until this year,” Opoulos said. “I wrote all the schools about playing volleyball, but all the soccer coaches from Irvine, Santa Barbara and Berkeley talked to me this season.”

It’s a difficult decision for Opoulos.

And he only hopes this one won’t be made as hastily as the one three years ago.