Redondo gains upper hand in Bay League boys volleyball race
Junior opposite hitter Rees Barnett led Redondo with 14 kills and had three blocks in the Sea Hawks’ five-game win over rival Mira Costa. Photo
Redondo gained the upper hand in the demanding Bay League race, surviving a 5-set win over visiting rival Mira Costa.
Redondo (12-2) is ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll and No. 5 in the MaxPreps National Rankings, where six teams from the Division are among the top 10.
The Sea Hawks battled back from a 21-25 first-set loss to Mira Costa (11-4) who is ranked No. 6 in CIF.
After scoring 28-26, 25-18 wins against the Mustangs, the Sea Hawks dropped the fourth set 21-25 before holding off Mira Costa 15-9 for the victory.
Junior Rees Barnett led Redondo with 14 kills and added three blocks while teammate Gabriel Miranda recorded 11 kills with four blocks.
Adam Sevier led Mira Costa with 12 kills and six blocks.
Redondo had just returned from a 3-day battle in the Hawaii Boys Invitational Tournament where the Sea Hawks went 5-2.
“We did not play our best but made some key adjustments throughout the match to help give us the edge,” Redondo coach Kevin Norman said. “The addition of Gabriel Miranda back into our lineup definitely helped us both offensively and defensively.
“Serving and passing is always a focus and although we did get aced more than I liked, when we did play the ball we were in system a lot of the time. Mark Marolda, Iñaki Bustamante and Ristin Sahebi did a great job in that respect as well as awesome defensive effort by all of our players. We won many long rallies with that great defense and much better attacking angles, which is something we have also been working hard on. We were not at our best but our players made plays when they needed to and did so under pressure which is a good sign.”
Redondo returns to make its final run for a Bay League championship on Thursday, Apr. 11 against Leuzinger, knowing that Division 1 is loaded with talent.
“I think anyone can beat anyone on any given day,” Norman said. “Newport Harbor seems to be the team to beat. We just play one match at a time and just keep pushing forward to our first goal, a Bay League title, after that we will see but I like our chances.”
After losing to Redondo, Mira Costa fell to top-ranked Newport Harbor in much the same fashion.
After winning the first game 26-24, Mira Costa dropped the next two 23-25, 13-25 before a 25-23 win in game four.
The Sailors, however, pulled out a 15-12 victory to claim the match. Newport Harbor entered the week with a 26-0 record being the top-ranked high school team in the nation.
Mira Costa travels to Palos Verdes on Tuesday before a 6:30 p.m. home match against Peninsula on Thursday at Manhattan Beach Middle School.