Despite suffering a five-game lost to rival Redondo in the final match of the regular season, Mira Costa moved up in the polls to earn a fourth seed in the CIF Southern Section-Ford Division 1-AA Championships.
Coach Lisa Arce-Zimmerman’s Mustang squad is 20-11 after facing little opposition against visiting Millikan when Mira Costa scored a25-13, 25-12, 25-9 victory in the opening round of the playoffs Tuesday.
Mira Costa advances to face host Orange Lutheran (17-13) in the second round on Thursday. Quarterfinals will be played Saturday and the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 15 followed by championship matches which will be held at Cypress College Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18-19. All matches, with the exception of the final round, are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Maddy Klineman led Mira Costa to its opening-round win with nine kills and four digs.
Grayce Campbell added six kills and six digs, Corie Bain recorded five kills and 25 assists and Katie Warshaw had 10 digs to help the Mustangs.
Ranked opponents in Mira Costa’s half of the bracket are No. 1 Edison (24-5), No. 5 Newport Beach (22-8), No. 8 Mater Dei (24-8) and No. 9 Santa Barbara (16-10).
Redondo entered the playoffs on a high note after battling back from a two-game deficit to shock visiting Mira Costa with a 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-17, 15-8 upset in the Bay League finale on Nov. 1.
The Sea Hawks kept their momentum alive in the first round of the playoffs, avenging losses to Long Beach Poly in last season’s CIF Southern Section Division 1-AA and Southern California Regional Division 1 championship.
Coach Tommy Chaffins Redondo squad jumped out to a two-game lead against the Jackrabbits, defeating the Moore League’s No. 3 team 25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20.
Skylar Dykstra led the charge for the Sea Hawks with 16 kills and nine digs, Sade Mendez had 11 kills and 15 digs, Brianna Lanktree added seven kills, Devon Bogart and Hannah Mosebar each recorded five kills while Tiffany Morales tallied 10 digs and Petra Grutzik contributed 45 assists.
Redondo (22-15) will travel to face No. 3 Dos Pueblos (25-5), who earned an opening-round bye, in the second round on Thursday.
Other top-ten teams competing in Redondo’s side of the bracket are No. 2 Los Alamitos (30-3), No. 6 Santa Margarita (21-7), No. 7 Thousand Oaks (21-7) and No. 10 Long Beach Wilson (16-8).
The Bay League’s third representative, Palos Verdes lost its opening-round match at No. 2 Los Alamitos 25-21, 25-13, 29-27 finishing its season with a 15-17 record.
In Division 2-AA competition, top-seeded Pioneer League champion South Torrance (28-5) defeated Monrovia in four sets and will face Santiago/Corona (21-6) in the second round Thursday while Pioneer runner-up North Torrance (19-10) swept visiting Bishop Diego and will play at Aliso Niguel (16-9).
Top-seeded Chadwick (21-1) needed four games to advance in the Division 3-AA championships, defeating Granite Hills on Tuesday. The Dolphins advance to play at Beverly Hills (5-16) Thursday.
El Segundo (6-15) and Bishop Montgomery (17-8) dropped their opening-round matches in Division 2-AA while Vistamar was swept by No. 2 Archer in Division 5-AA.
Complete brackets are available at www.cifss.org.
