Although the CIF playoffs are two months away, Redondo’s girls volleyball team is getting good look at the competition it will be battling for the Division 1-AA championship.
After sweeping Los Alamitos, the top-ranked team in the CIF-SS Division 1-AA preseason poll, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 in the semifinals of the Molten Volleyball Classic on Saturday, fifth-ranked Redondo fell to host Lakewood in the championship match Tuesday.
The sixth-ranked Lancers defeated the Sea Hawks 25-17, 26-24, 11-25, 25-23 in a showdown between division powers.
Redondo gained momentum in the second set, rallying from a five-point deficit to tie the sore at 14 and reaching set-point at 24-23 but failed to put the game away.
A convincing win in the third set gave Redondo hope, but after leading 10-4 in the fourth set, Lakewood rallied and won the see-saw battle to claim the tournament title.
”Lakewood is one of the top teams in the country,” Redondo coach Tommy Chaffins said. “It was a great environment for us to play in a hostile environment against a top team. We got off to a slow start in set one then lost a couple of deuce games. This match will help us come playoff time. To win CIF in 1AA, you have to be able to beat a great team like Lakewood on the road. That might not be true in the other divisions, but it certainly is in 1AA.”
Redondo, who was playing without 6-foot-4 outside hitter Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani, received a boost with the return of Abril Bustamante who had been nursing an abdominal strain.
“The Molten tournament has been a great one to see where we stand as a team,” Bustamante said. “Our team has a lot of depth and we are just getting better as the days go on. There are a lot of great teams in Southern California with great players on them, so we’re going to face tough competition this season.”
Prior to competing in the 64-team Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas Sept. 19-20, Redondo will travel to face Mater Dei (No. 2 in Division 1-AA) on Thursday and hosts No. 4 Orange Lutheran on Tuesday. Both matches are scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m.
”We like to play the best, and by playing the best, they expose any weakness our team may have,” Chaffins said. “We have a fairly veteran team, and I expect us to bounce back and get after every match.”
