Local volleyball fans would be hard pressed to remember a season when both South Bay perennial powers Mira Costa and Redondo failed to advance past the second round in the postseason, but the rarity occurred Thursday when the Mustangs and Sea Hawks dropped road matches in the CIF Southern Section/Ford Division 1AA Championships.
After earning a fourth seed, Bay League champion Mira Costa (20-12) was eliminated by unranked Orange Lutheran (18-14) 25-21, 26-28, 25-17, 23-25, 16-14 despite a 23-kill, 17-dig performance by senior Maddy Klineman.
Katie Warshaw added 21 digs, Grayce Campbell recorded 17 kills and Corie Bain had 38 assists for the Mustangs.
The loss was indicative of a season where head coach Lisa Arce-Zimmerman’s young squad had trouble finishing matches, including a five-game loss to rival Redondo in the Bay League finale after winning the first two sets.
Despite losing in the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, the future of the Mira Costa program remains bright. With Klineman, Katie Warshaw and Kate Kious the lone seniors on the team, this year’s demanding schedule has granted valuable experience to provide for a strong nucleus next season.
Orange Lutheran was swept by No. 5 Newport Harbor in the quarterfinals last Saturday.
After reaching the Division 1AA finals last year, Redondo (22-16) saw its season end when the Sea Hawks were swept by No. 3 Dos Pueblos 25-13, 26-24, 25-22.
Skylar Dykstra led Redondo with nine kills and seven digs, Sade Mendez contributed seven kills and seven digs, Petra Grutzik added 20 assists and two aces and Tiffany Morales had eight digs.
Much like its rival Mira Costa, Redondo will return a core of outstanding players for the 2012 season including Dykstra, Mendez, Grutzik, Brianna Lanktree, Hannah Mosebar and Katy Rotondo.
The Bay League’s third representative, Palos Verdes lost at No. 2 Los Alamitos in the opening round.
In Division 2AA, top-seeded South Torrance reached the semifinals where they faced No. 5 La Salle on Tuesday. The victor will face the Tesoro-St. Lucy’s winner in the championship match either Friday or Saturday at Cypress College.
In Division 3AA, No. 1 Chadwick hosted No. 5 Western in Tuesday’s semifinal contest. The winner will take on the winner between No. 2 Poly/Pasadena and No. 3 Santa Monica for the CIF title.
Complete brackets are available at www.cifss.org.
