Mira Costa’s girls volleyball team gained a big confidence boost Saturday as the Mustang’s rematch with rival Redondo.
Coach Hayley Lawson-Blanchard’s squad captured the championship at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions and has the opportunity of sharing the Bay League title when Redondo invades Fisher Gym Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match.
After toppling the nation’s top-ranked team Archbishop Mitty in the semifinals of the Santa Barbara TOC, Mira Costa defeated perennial power Torrey Pines for the second time this season to win the tournament title for the first time since 2007.
In both matches, Mira Costa rebounded after dropping the first set. It appeared second-seeded Torrey Pines was on its way to claiming the title after easily winning the first set of the finals 25-16.
But the Mustangs charged back, capitalizing on their strong defensive performance displayed throughout the tournament. Mira Costa took charge winning three straight games by the scores of 25-19, 25-21, 26-24.
Mira Costa (22-6) handed San Jose’s Archbishop Mitty only its second loss of the season with a 25-27, 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 win in the semifinals.
“We played amazing the whole weekend,” Lawson-Blanchard said. “Our girls have not played this well and consistent for four full matches straight the entire season. We had stellar defense, and minimized our unforced errors which really helped beat those top teams. Our serve receive passing was also incredible which allowed us to run a very balanced offense. Both Mitty and Torrey Pines are bigger than us physically, but we served tough, passed well, and ultimately outlasted them on defense, both in blocking and digging.”
Outside hitter Ashley Anselmo was named the tournament MVP and teammates Skylar Caputo and Katie Rethmeyer were selected to the all-tournament team.
“This past weekend I have never seen this team play so well,” Caputo said. “It did not matter who we were playing against, we all went out there ready to fight for every point and focus on the play. Going into day 2, we knew we were going to have two tough matches and we could not be more thrilled to have won both. As a team, the confidence we have built throughout this tournament will carry on into our match this Tuesday. We have worked extremely hard all season to get the Bay League title back and that is something we look forward to playing for this week.”
The wins against such formidable opponents should move Mira Costa up in the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA rankings before the playoff pairings are announced Friday. The Mustangs entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the division with Redondo (27-2) holding the No. 1 position.
“This (tournament) was a huge win for the team going into Redondo,” Lawson-Blanchard said. “Mitty beat Redondo in the Las Vegas Tournament, and after taking a game off Redondo two weeks ago when we didn’t necessarily play our best, this win really shows the girls that we can beat anyone when we play the top of our game consistently. Plus we are at home on our senior night, there is no better lead up to the game than that.
“The girls are hungry for the win against Redondo, and ultimately for the CIF title. We have 11 seniors that have given their lives to this program for the past four years, and I always tell them that they can win it all, not because they are Mira Costa and are supposed to be good, but because they have earned it by working their butts off.”
One of Redondo’s two losses this season was to Archbishop Mitty at the Durango Fall Classic on Sept. 20.
Redondo has not lost since, winning its own Redondo Power Classic defeating Marymount 25-23, 18-25, 15-12 in the finals. The second-set loss was the only game the Sea Hawks dropped while going 6-0 in the tournament.
After holding a 10-6 lead in the third game, Marymount charged back to go ahead 12-11. The Sea Hawks answered by scoring the next four points to beat the Sailors for the third time this season. Marymount entered the week ranked No. 5 in Division 1AA.
After wins against La Reina and Rio Mesa on Friday, Redondo defeated North Torrance, Scripps Ranch and Harvard-Westlake to reach the finals.
“I thought we played well all weekend, and really had to battle in the finals vs. Marymount,” Redodno coach Tommy Chaffins said. “We stole set 1 coming back from 21-23 to score the final four points. After losing set 2, we just had to settle down and move on to the next play and relax. We did that and made some plays again at the end of the final set to win. We have a veteran team, and they drew on their experience and skill sets to pull out the victory against a super tough Marymount team.”
Redondo’s Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani was selected as tournament MVP and teammates Abril Bustamante, Hayes Honea and Norene Iosia were named to the all-tournament team.
“Overall, I think our team played great volleyball this past weekend,” Bustamante said. “There are a couple of things that we needed to work on and this tournament was a great opportunity to pinpoint them. We have great hitters and passers and we have an amazing setter with great coaching, so with that I am confident that we can play a high level of volleyball against Costa. This time around will be more challenging since we will be playing at Costa and they are coming with great confidence from winning TOC, but I believe we can persevere through the difficulties and come through with a successful outcome.”
Chaffins expects his top-ranked Sea Hawks to face a battle on Tuesday.
“I think Costa winning the TOC puts an extra microscope on our already highly anticipated rematch for both schools,” Chaffins said. “There is no other place in the country that produces the amount of college volleyball players than the South Bay produces, that is a fact. It will be another electric event, the kind that longtime South Bay volleyball fans know that if they don’t arrive for the JV match, they might get shut out of the varsity match. Both teams will be ready to go and it should be a high-level intense match, a perfect preparation for the playoffs for both schools.
“Mira Costa will be more settled on their lineup and rotations than the first time we played them. With the tournament finish they had, they found the right lineup for them and I am sure their confidence has never been higher.”
Playoff seedings and brackets will be announced Friday and available at cif.org.
