Girls volleyball: One last hurrah for locals

Tony Altobelli

HUNTINGTON BEACH - In one last mini-clash of local talent on the

girls high school volleyball scene the Newport Harbor High-led North

squad prevailed over the Corona del Mar-led South squad, 25-13, 24-26,

15-8, in the Dave Mohs Memorial Volleyball All-Star Match Friday night at

Edison High, the 24th annual postseason showdown of Orange County’s best.

“This was a lot of fun to be a part of,” Sailors’ senior April Ross said.

“The finalization pretty much hit after the state tournament, but this

was a nice way to really wrap it up.”

Ross, headed for USC next year, had a match-high 13 kills and was named

the Most Valuable Player of the match.

Ross’ teammate, Duke-bound Krista Dill, wrapped up a couple of sports on

Friday. After throwing the discus for the Sailors track and field squad

at the CIF State Preliminaries, Dill battled the traffic to arrive just

prior to game time.

“It’s like being a part of some super-human team or something,” Dill said

of her all-star teammates. “It was nice to see everyone we’ve been

playing against all this time be on the same team. I don’t think it will

ever sink in that this stage of my life is over. This is something I

can’t wait to tell my kids about someday.”

The third member of the Sailors’ CIF Division I state championship to

appear in the match, Brenda Waterman, also came through with some big

plays for the North before heading south to UCI in the fall.

On the South squad, Dimitra Havriluk led the South with six kills.

“This was a nice closing to a part of my life,” Havriluk said. “It’s a

great way of ending one chapter and starting another.”

Havriluk is already counting down the days until she heads to the

University of West Virginia.

“August 1, I’ll be heading out there,” Havriluk said. “I’m so stoked. I

can’t wait to go.”

Fellow Sea King, Stanford-bound Jamie Brownell, summed up this all-star

experience very nicely.

“With all the stuff we’ve done, this was all for fun,” Brownell said.

“There was no pressure in this at all. Now it’s back to club volleyball

before heading on to college.”

For those interested in the match, the North jumped out to a 17-6 edge

and under the rally-scoring format, that was more than enough to take

Game 1.

The South rose to the occasion in Game 2. Trailing, 24-21, a combination of strong play and some unforced errors allowed the South to even the

match.

In the 15-point, Game 3, Ross earned her MVP status with six kills. The

North jumped out to a 10-3 lead and held on from there.