Prep volleyball: All-Star matches feature seven Back Bay standouts.
Barry Faulkner
HUNTINGTON BEACH - Three Newport Harbor High boys volleyball
standouts will team up once again, while two girls from both Newport
Harbor and Corona del Mar will square off on opposite sides of the net
tonight at the 25th Dave Mohs Memorial Orange County All-Star volleyball
matches at Edison High.
Sea View League Co-Most Valuable Players Greg Perrine and Loyd Wright
will be joined on the South roster by senior teammate Brian Gaeta for the
boys match, tentatively scheduled for 7:30.
The girls match, set for 6, will feature CdM seniors Jacqueline Becker
and Morgan Smith (South), as well as Newport Harbor seniors Katie King
and Liz Lord (North).
Both boys and girls matches will be three games, even if one team
sweeps the first two.
Perrine, Wright and Gaeta helped lead the Sailors to the Sea View
League title, the No. 1 ranking in Orange County and the CIF Southern
Section Division II semifinals. Tonight, they return to the scene of
their title-match triumph in the Orange County Championships.
The venue was also the coaching home of the late Dave Mohs, for whom
the all-star matches are named. The Edison gym is also named for Mohs, a
longtime Corona del Mar resident who earned the respect and friendship of
many in the prep volleyball community during a long and distinguished
coaching tenure at Edison.
It could be the final volleyball performance for Perrine, a 6-foot-1
outside hitter, and Gaeta, a 6-2 outside hitter. Perrine, also the Sea
View MVP in basketball, plans to concentrate on that sport when he
enrolls at Chapman University next fall.
Gaeta, who finalized his plans to play football at Colorado State on a
recruiting visit last week, will also give up volleyball as a collegian.
Wright, a 6-1 setter, plans to continue playing at the University of
Arizona, which has hinted at making its current club program a sanctioned
sport at the school.
Becker, a two-time first-team All-CIF setter who guided CdM to the CIF
Division III-A semifinals last fall, will continue at Yale. She was one
of three Players of the Year in the PCL as a senior.
Smith, a 5-10 opposite bound for UCLA, was another first-team All-CIF
choice last fall.
Lord, a 5-11 middle blocker bound for the University of Portland, was
a first-team All-CIF Division II performer last fall, when she helped
lead the Sailors to a share of their eighth Sea View championship in nine
seasons.
King, a 5-6 setter who plans to play one season at Irvine Valley
College, before transferring to USC, was another first-team All-CIF
honoree for the Sailors.
In addition to bragging rights against the top players from the North,
who include Orange Coast College-bound Matt Skolnik from Canyon High, the
boys will be playing for the right to represent Orange County against a
team of all-stars from South Bay schools Saturday night, also at Edison.
The Orange County roster for the second annual clash with the South
Bay will be chosen Friday night.
The South boys will be coached by John Gaido (Northwood) and Ken
Golstone (San Clemente), while the North boys will be guided by Jeff
Caughthran (Marina) and Trent Jackson (Canyon).
Roger Block (Pacifica) and Craig Pazanti (Mater Dei) will coach the
North girls, while the South girls will be coached by Robert O’Rear (San
Clemente) and Susie Maga (St. Margaret’s).
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