Mira Costa knew it would be in for a battle when Redondo’s girls volleyball and its vocal supporters invaded Fisher Gym Thursday for the first of two meetings in league competition and it didn’t take long for the overflow crowd to see who the superior team was.
Ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section-Ford Division 1-AA poll, Mira Costa swept No. 10 Redondo 25-17, 25-10, 27-25 to put itself in the driver’s seat in the race for the league title.
“I wasn’t expecting a sweep so I’m really enjoying it,” Mira Costa head coach Lisa Arce-Zimmerman said. “However, I felt really good coming into the match because the girls were very well prepared and I knew they would finish it out.”
Finish it out they did. With Redondo leading most of the third set, Mira Costa fought back to tie the game and eventually put their cross-town foes away.
“It was a big win for us,” Maddy Klineman said. “We fought hard and we knew coming into the match it could have gone either way. We were really consistent and didn’t get too up or down. In the third game, we saw how much they (Redondo) wanted it and it has been important for us to finish matches to build our confidence.”
Grayce Campbell led Mira Costa (8-6, 4-0) with 15 kills, Klineman recorded 10 kills and two blocks, Lexi Millington added six kills and 14 digs, Katie Warshaw had 17 digs and Corie Bain set the table for the offense with 42 assists, three kills and two aces while providing 12 digs on defense.
“I definitely wasn’t surprised it was a sweep,” said Bain, a junior setter who shares team captain duties with seniors Klineman and Warshaw. “Every year it’s a battle for us with Redondo and a game we look forward to. We came out to execute and we did it. Getting ahead in the Bay League race was one of our goals.”
Skylar Dykstra led Redondo (9-7, 3-1) with 10 kills while Brianna Lanktree added six kills and Hannah Mosebar recorded five kills and two blocks. Devon Bogart and Annie Hale tallied three kills and one block apiece.
Many Redondo players were already looking forward to the rematch when the Sea Hawks host the Mustangs on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The teams tied for the league championship last season when Redondo defeated host Mira Costa in the regular season finale for both squads.
“We played hard and had a lot of enthusiasm but the ball just didn’t seem to roll our way,” Redondo libero Tiffany Morales said. “We keep looking to limit our unforced errors and keep bringing it together so that we all play as one. It’s almost like we’re setting it up like last year. I think we can pull it off.”
Redondo head coach Tommy Chaffins remained optimistic and was pleased with his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“The team that makes the most errors usually loses and that was us,” Chaffins said. “We didn’t make plays at the end and they did. Going in I thought the team that played the best would win and unfortunately it was the green-and-gold and not the red-and-white.”
There were actually two winning teams Thursday night – the other clad in pink. Arce-Zimmerman, who took over the helm of Mira Costa’s program in 2007, maintained the tradition of having the Mustang’s home match against the Sea Hawks serve as a fundraiser for Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Chaffins follows suit when Redondo’s home match against its rival raises funds for a different organization each season.
The remote possibility that Mira Costa and Redondo would face each other before their league rematch in November became a reality last weekend in the 32-team California Challenge tournament in Torrey Pines. Both teams were seeded second in their respective pools and concluded the tournament playing each other in the Silver Division championship match.
“We’d want to meet the teams we lost to in Vegas (the Durango Fall Classic) and re-battle them because we know we can beat them now,” Bain exclaimed prior to the elite teams in the San Diego section. “We are a young team with most of our starters new to varsity which is extremely impressive – like Grayce Campbell who’s really killing it – so it’s amazing they have stepped up like they have.”
After Mira Costa swept Chaminade and St. Mary’s, Bain and her teammates got their wish in the final game of pool play when the Mustangs faced La Costa Canyon, a team that beat them 25-19, 25-23 in the Durango tournament. Once again, Mira Costa fell short losing to the San Diego area team 25-20, 25-18.
A 28-26, 25-20 loss to Corona del Mar relegated Mira Costa to the Silver Division where the Mustangs defeated Patrick Henry 25-19, 25-20 and Francis Parker 25-20, 25-14 to set up the showdown with Redondo.
Redondo swept Buchanan and Canyon Crest before losing to Corona del Mar in two sets to finish pool play. The Sea Hawks lost to La Costa Canyon 25-22, 25-18 in the Gold Bracket play-in match but avenged a five-game loss in September by defeating Orange Lutheran 17-25, 26-24, 15-11 before downing Bonita Vista 25-21, 25-19 for the opportunity to face cross-town rival for the second time in three days.
Redondo took the first set 22-25 but Mira Costa rebounded to win the Silver Division title winning the next two games by scores of 25-11 and 15-9.
Klineman led Mira Costa with 35 kills, 23 digs and nine aces during Saturday’s bracket play. Bain recorded 98 assists, 32 digs, 10 kills and four aces, Campbell tallied 18 kills, 18 digs and three aces, Millington had 15 kills, 34 digs and six aces, Warshaw added 34 digs and three aces and Kelsey McIntire contributed 14 kills and seven blocks.
Skylar Dykstra led Redondo with 40 kills and 24 digs, Lanktree recorded 25 kills, Morales had 36 digs and Olivia Bustamante added 50 assists.
CIF Southern Section teams faced off in the Gold Bracket championship match with Mater Dei (No. 9 in Division 1-AA) defeating Corona del Mar (No. 2 in Division 1-A) in a thrilling contest 29-27, 32-30.
“We just need to keep working hard and staying with our chemistry because it’s tough for us being a small numbers team with a lot of injuries,” Arce-Zimmerman said. “We need to maintain our composure, but mainly take one match at a time and remain consistent.”
Mira Costa and Redondo return to Bay League action next week when the Mustangs travel to Palos Verdes Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. and the Sea Hawks take on host Peninsula in a 3:40 match Friday
