Redondo girls volleyball coach Tommy Chaffins is not one to look beyond his team’s next opponent. His philosophy of having his squad forget about the past and focus on the next play has helped the Sea Hawks produce numerous collegiate players as well as four consecutive Bay League championships.
Yet Chaffins knows his team will be in a battle when Redondo hosts a hungry Mira Costa team in the regular season finale on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Although Redondo won the first meeting between the rivals with a hard-fought 25-23, 27-25, 25-17 win, Mira Costa hopes to gain a share of the league title and make a step forward to regaining Bay league dominance that the Mustang held for decades.
“Beating Costa is never easy,” Chaffins said after Redondo defeated Mira Costa on Oct. 15. “I thought there was great volleyball on both sides. The Mustangs played great and really stressed us to the max. Fortunately, our superstars – Megan and Norene – made some clutch plays. I liked our poise when the other team was making its run. We didn’t look rattled and there were some crazy rallies in that match.”
Chaffins realizes his team has a bullseye on its back after winning the CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA and State Division 1 championships last season and expects a tremendous challenge for a repeat.
Redondo is ranked No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 1AA behind Great Oak of Temecula while Mira Costa remains in the No. 6 spot.
“There’s very little separation between the top eight teams in the division,” Chaffins said. “The championships of the Bay League and the the CIF could come down to one or two plays,”
Seniors Norene Iosia and Megan Rice have led Redondo (21-3, 8-0) who swept Peninsula 25-17, 25-18, 25-21 on Tuesday
The Sea Hawks will host Palos Verdes in a 6 p.m match on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Rice scored a match-high 26 kills in Redondo’s previous meeting with Mira Costa while Iosia recorded 40 assists in the three-set match.
Mira Costa (21-4, 6-1) made quick work of host Inglewood Tuesday with a 25-4, 25-5, 25-2 victory. The Mustangs host Morningside at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29.
Mira Costa will prepare for its match against Redondo by competing this weekend in the prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, a 16-team tournament featuring nine of the the top 20 teams ranked in the state according to MaxPreps.
Ashley Anselmo, the MVP of last year’s Santa Barbara TOC, and Alexa Underwood will supply the firepower for the Mustang offense while Emma Smith, the reigning Bay League Libero of the Year, leads a strong defense.
The Mustangs will have the opportunity to see four possible opponents in the upcoming CIF-SS Division 1AA playoffs including No. 1 Great Oak, No. 4 Corona del Mar, No. 7 Mater Dei and Newport Harbor.
CIF playoff seedings and brackets will be announced Friday, Nov. 6 and available at cifss.org.
