Mira Costa and Redondo began their quests for a girls volleyball championship Tuesday with easy home victories in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA playoffs.
Defending champion and top-seeded Redondo (30-3) defeated La Salle 25-15, 25-14, 25-16 in a match where head coach Tommy Chaffins was able to clear his bench.
“The downside of coaching is that you can’t play everyone,” Chaffins said. “It made me very happy that all 18 players came in. The experience helps because if one of our players is a little off, we can bring someone in that the other team doesn’t have a great scouting report on.”
Hard swinging Megan Rice led Redondo with 11 kills but the senior found another weapon for her arsenal. Jump serving for the first time this season, Rice recorded four aces including two consecutive and narrowly missing a third straight in the final set.
“I was really stoked with Megan’s serving,” Chaffins said. “We need to find additional ways to produce points. She’s been practicing it and last week we decided to try it the game, even if it meant some misses. It’s kudos to Megan’s athleticism, mental toughness and competitiveness.”
Sophia Loiola added nine kills and was excited to get back on track after a disappointing loss to rival Mira Costa in the regular season finale.
“It felt good to get some kills and see the open court,” Loiola said. “It was a special night for us because everyone got to play. The loss against Costa gave us a feeling that we don’t want to have again. We got that loss out of our system and it helped us with our ‘next play’ momentum because you never know when your last day is going to be.”
Redondo players admitted the 5-set loss to Mira Costa on Nov. 3 was a wake-up call going into the playoffs.
“It feels good to get the win after a tough loss,” Rice said. “The loss to Mira Costa showed us that we can’t just show up and expect to win. We know we can’t rely on luck in the playoffs.”
Chaffins agreed the match with rival Mira Costa served a purpose.
“We benefited by having that high intensity match right before the playoffs,” Chaffins said. “Most teams don’t get that playoff-match atmosphere. To win in Division 1AA, you have to go on the road and win big matches and we welcome that challenge.”
Redondo (30-3) will travel to Irvine to face (23-9) in the second round on Thursday. All playoff matches with the exception of the finals begin at 7 p.m.
Quarterfinals take place Saturday followed by the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 17 and the finals on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Cerritos College.
While Redondo was enjoying its home victory, three miles to the north Mira Costa was taking care of business as the Mustangs aim to bring a CIF championship banner back to Fisher Gym.
Mira Costa (29-5) defeated Woodbridge 25-18, 25-8, 25-23 in its first-round match and will play at Los Alamitos (19-11) in the second round.
Alexia Inman led Mira Costa with nine kills and added four blocks.
Alexa Underwood, Amanda Montag and Ashley Anselmo each recorded seven kills and Emma Smith contributed 15 digs. Sara Feld had four aces and served the final 11 points in the second set.
The other two South Bay teams competing in Division 1AA didn’t fare as well as Mira Costa and Redondo.
Peninsula (17-11), the Bay League’s third team lost at No. 8 Edison 25-22, 16-25, 15-22, 15-18 and Del Rey champion Bishop Montgomery (18-9) saw its season co9me to an end with a 25-17, 25-22, 26-24 loss at Orange Lutheran.
In Division 2AA, Prep champion Chadwick (20-3) earned the second seed and a first-round bye. The Dolphins will host Monrovia (19-10), a 25-20, 25-14, 25-23 winner over visiting North Torrance (7-9).
Pioneer champion South Torrance (20-12) is ranked sixth and defeated Pasadena Poly 25-20, 25-14, 25-21. The Spartans play at Whittier Christian (23-9) on Thursday. West Torrance (18-19) lost to No. 7 Westridge (21-6) in the first round.
In Division 3AA, Ocean runner-up El Segundo (14-8) swept visiting Rialto 25-11, 25-13, 25-24 and will take on No. 5 La Serna (19-6) on Thursday..
Coastal champion Vistamar (20-2) earned the third seed in Division 4AA and swept visiting Providence/Burbank 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 to advance to the second round where the Vikings will play Segerstrom (18-7).
For brackets and results, visit cifss.org.
