Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team playing lights out
Carter Kimble and the Mira Costa Mustangs travel to Santa Barbara to compete in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions. Photo
It was a dark week for Redondo’s boys volleyball team as the defending Bay League champion dropped a five-set home match to Palos Verdes on Tuesday and was swept by rival Mira Costa on Thursday after the main lights went out in Sea Hawk Pavilion and the match was moved to the adjacent smaller gym after approximately a half-hour delay.
But there is light on the horizon for the young Redondo team with the return of Lucas Lossone who helped the Sea Hawks play a competitive match against Mira Costa, the third-ranked team in CIF Division 1. The junior led Redondo with 11 kills, five aces and two blocks.
Mira Costa, however, displayed it prowess with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-20 victory. After nine ties in the first set, Mira Costa gained a 16-15 advantage and a lead it would not relinquish.
In the second set, the Mustangs enjoyed their largest lead of the match at 21-15 before the Sea Hawks closed the gap 22-21 after two consecutive aces by Lossone. Jackson Wedbush and Carter Kimble helped Mira Costa put the game away.
Wedbush and strong play at the net by Andy Huchel sealed the sweep. The win was particularly special for setter Tanner Smith, who transferred from Redondo to Mira Costa for his senior year after what he said were “disagreements on both sides.”
“The win felt good. It was good to see them (former teammates) again but felt better to beat them,” Smith said. “This is a great atmosphere at Costa and we expect to make a run for a CIF championship.”
Redondo’s Lucas Lossone helped the Sea Hawks stay competitive against the third-ranked Mira Costa Mustangs. Photo by Ray
Mira Costa head coach Sean Shoptaw was happy with the victory but noted there is room for improvement.
“Our expectation was to come in here, play well and not waste time and give Redondo momentum so the match would go how we wanted it to,” Shoptaw said. “We handled a big league match on the road by being efficient and mustered enough energy game-to-game to finish which is what we’ve talked about doing. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we need to play better than we tonight.”
Mira Costa (13-2) will be tested this weekend when the Mustangs play in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara that includes five of the top-ten teams from CIF-SS Division 1. Mira Costa is seeded second behind Loyola, who swept the Mustangs in March.
“We have a big weekend coming up,” Shoptaw said. “Four out of the top five teams in our division are up there so tonight was a good warm up for the tournament. I think the boys have been locked in on Santa Barbara for awhile so we’ll see what we got.”
Mira Costa opens the tournament Friday with a 4:15 p.m. match against Buena. The Mustangs return to Bay League action Tuesday with a road match at Palos Verdes followed by a home contest against Peninsula on Thursday. Both league matches are slated to stat at 3:15 p.m.
Redondo (12-9) plays at Inglewood on Tuesday and hosts Morningside on Thursday in 4:30 p.m. matches.