Coming off a fifth-place tournament finish in San Diego, Mira Costa’s girls volleyball team will host Redondo Thursday at 7 p.m. in the first of two Bay League matches between the rivals.
Mira Costa is ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division 1AA and a win against second-ranked Redondo will put the Mustangs in position to reclaim the Bay League crown they haven’t held since 2011.
Last weekend, Mira Costa competed in the 32-team ASICS California Challenge hosted by Torrey Pines High School, placing fifth in the tournament that featured six CIF-SS top ten teams including five from Division 1AA: Santa Margarita No. 1), Great Oak (No. 3), Mira Costa (No. 5), Marymount (No. 6), Mater Dei (No 7).
Mira Costa competed in the Gold Bracket after winning its pool with victories over La Costa Canyon, Notre Dame and Carson. The Mustangs dropped their first match 27-25, 25-18 to Rancho Cucamonga (ranked No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 1A).
Torrey Pines defeated Great Oak 24-16, 26-24, 15-11 in the championship match.
“Our loss on Saturday was a good wake up call for us after a few weeks without playing top competition, and our girls are going to come back even stronger now,” Mira Costa head coach Hayley Lawson-Blanchard said. “I am confident that our girls will come out playing their best on Thursday, and it’s going to take everyone on their top game to take down Redondo. We are depending a lot on our setters to run our offense and spread the ball to all our hitters. We don’t have the one superstar like Redondo does in Megan Rice, but I believe that makes us even tougher to play against because the ball could go to any one of our hitters at any point.”
Mira Costa opened Bay League action with sweeps over Palos Verdes, Peninsula and Inglewood and will continue its tradition of having the home match against Redondo serve as a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness.
An auction will be held with items such as Dodger, Laker and Kings tickets, wine baskets, autographed volleyballs, photo sessions, gift cards and a vacation. Proceeds benefit the Dr. Susan Love Charity in Santa Monica.
Redondo began its defense of the Bay League championship with sweeps over Inglewood and Morningside. The Sea Hawks turned in an impressive 6th-place performance at the 80-team Nike Tournament of Championship held in Phoenix, Ariz.
Redondo had pool victories over The Bishop’s School (La Jolla) 25-10, 25-16, Emerald Ridge (South Hill, Wash.) 25-12, 25-19 and South Anchorage (Alaska) 25-15, 25-19.
The Sea Hawks advanced to the Platinum Division after beating Notre Dame (Scottsdale Ariz.) 25-13, 25-21 but fell to eventual champion Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) 25-14, 25-23.
Redondo defeated Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) 25-20, 21-25, 15-8 before losing to Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 25-21, 25-23 in the 5th-place match.
