By Randy Angel
Facing its toughest competition of the season, Mira Costa’s girls beach volleyball team continued its dominance, fighting back to defeat Laguna Beach to claim its fourth consecutive Southern Pacific Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League championship Saturday at Santa Monica’s Ocean Park
Top-seeded Mira Costa (14-0) remained unbeaten since 2012 but it didn’t come easy as the Mustang’s No. 1 team of senior Emma Smith and sophomore Piper Monk-Heidrich rebounded from a first-game 15-21 loss to defeat Laguna Beach’s Cameron Dorn and Katelyn Carballo 22-20, 15-3 in the final two sets.
Mira Costa’s No. 3 team of Presley Forbes and Sunny Villapando won in two games 21-16, 21-19 and the Mustang’s Rio Frohoff and Avery Hazelrigg split the battle between No. 2 teams, 25-23, 21-16 but did not need to play a third game when Smith and Monk-Heidrich secured the win.
Monk-Heidrich, who is committed to UCLA to play beach volleyball, said the victory was special after playing on the No. 3 team last season and helping her partner go undefeated in her four years at Mira Costa.
“It was super exciting to win, especially for Emma Smith who can go out on top,” Monk-Heidrich said. “I’ve learned so much from her. She taught me to never give up and always keep fighting. Even when we were down in the first game, Emma remained calm. She never gets overly excited and her demeanor rubs off on me. I’m very lucky to have had her as a partner.”
After earning a first-round bye, Bay division champion Mira Costa swept Ventura to reach the quarterfinals on Saturday when the Mustangs swept Channel Conference champion Arroyo Grande.
Mira Costa continued its dominance in the semifinals with a sweep over Bay Division rival Santa Monica before winning its dramatic championship against South Coast Division co-champion Laguna Beach.
After a first-round win by forfeit, Redondo was eliminated by Laguna Beach in the second round.
“We are very deep in talent,” Mira Costa Head Coach Eric Fonoimoana said. “Our varsity, junior varsity and Frosh/Soph teams all went undefeated during the regular season. Now that women’s beach volleyball is an NCAA sport that provides scholarships, more girls are playing and the competition continues to improve each season.”
