Rally forge

NEWPORT BEACH — Guess Newport Harbor wasn’t kidding about that whole first-round-of-the-playoffs, monkey-off-the-back-thing.

The Sailors (28-3) stuck it to JSerra in three games in Friday night’s home playoff opener, winning, 25-19, 25-12, 25-21. The top-seeded Sailors advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs, with a win over a significantly smaller Trinity League at-large team making its postseason debut.

And they did it putting in some dramatic rallies, chasing after shanked balls and keeping plays alive, all while thinking, in the back of their minds, about the early playoff exits of the last two seasons.

The Sailors will play at Tesoro Tuesday. Tesoro upset Harvard-Westlake, 19-25, 22-25, 25-12, 27-25, 15-13.

Senior libero Andrew Kaban (seven digs) had one of those highlight reel saves. He ran down a ball in Game 1, almost into the stands, and bumped it backward over the net for a kill when none of the Lions bothered to answer it.

After a second-round loss in 2007 and a first round-loss in 2008, this Harbor team isn’t taking anything for granted, senior middle Max Volz said.

“I know all the seniors are thinking about it,” Volz said. “I’m pretty sure some of the younger guys are too. We all kind of know, every game you’ve got to come to play because if any team gets the best of you, your season’s over with.”

JSerra opened leading 7-2 in Game 1, mostly due to Newport’s unforced errors, including a long serve by senior outside hitter Mark Liebermann, a lift on Volz, and a pin violation by Tucker Peleuses.

“As we go along here, we’re going to have to eliminate some of those unforced errors,” Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn said. “Or that’s going to come back and get us.”

But Newport Harbor went on a 7-2 run to tie things at 9-9, and didn’t trail the Lions again until Game 3, when the Sailors climbed back from a 6-2 deficit.

“Definitely wanted to win in three,” Volz said. “We came out a little shaky, I think, just ‘cause it’s CIF but we really got it together.”

Volz led the team with four blocks, while Kyle Caldwell had two. But it wasn’t the quantity of blocks or kills that stuck with Lions Coach Troy Tanner so much as Harbor’s size and physicality.

Midway through Game 3, Liebermann put down a spike from Caldwell’s cross-court set. On the next point, Caldwell scored with an easy dump on the left side.

“They’re the best team we’ve played this year,” Tanner said. “I think we were a little bit deer-in-the-headlights ... I think we were just, on some level, a little overwhelmed, sadly.”

Both Peleuses and Liebermann hit .600 for nine kills, and Volz added seven kills on nine attempts.

Caldwell finished with 35 assists, five kills and three service aces.

“Max had a good week of practice,” Caldwell said. “He’s going hard all the time. He’s playing defense. He’s serving well. He came out blocking balls. He’s playing all-around great right now.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].