by Mark McDermott
Match point in the third set and final game of an epic season for the Mira Costa Mustangs Boys Volleyball team was momentarily lost to confusion. Archbishop Mitty, who were 40-2 and ranked 8th nationally going into this CIF Division I state championship match, rallied furiously, digging out several attempted kills from the Mustangs almost preposterously large and athletic front row.
In a split second, star senior Costa setter Andrew Chapin went down in a heap under the net right as Mitty appeared to win the point on a spike that made its way through the Mustang wall. But a Mitty player had crossed the midcourt line, and the point, match, and historic, inaugural statewide championship went to Mira Costa.
That culminating point was just about the only uncertainty in the Mustang’s dominating 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 victory. It capped off a 37-2 season that was crowned with regional, CIF-Southern Section, and state championships, and most likely a national championship (Costa was ranked first in the nation going into Saturday’s championship). The team won its final 10 matches, nine in straight sets, dropping only two sets — those coming in a fiercely contested but satisfying five set CIF-SS championship victory over Huntington Beach.
Coach Greg Snyder said winning the first-ever State Championship seemed fitting for this special team.
“We just had a great collection of talent, and it came together,” Snyder said. “The fact that this was the First State Championship, with a team so physically gifted and talented — it just seemed like it was ours to lose.”
Chapin was not seriously injured on that final play. He picked himself up gingerly from the ground and limped slightly until he picked up speed and went running to the rest of his team, who had gathered, jumping in jubilation as what they’d just accomplished sank in.
“It was just the best feeling ever,” Chapin said.
The stats in the final match tell part of the story of this Mustang team. Senior Alex Heins, the 6-foot-6 inch middle hitter, had 10 kills on 12 attempts and three blocks. Senior Thatcher Fahlbusch, a 6-foot-6 outside hitter, had nine kills on 15 attempts. Senior Grayson Bradford, a 6-foot-11 outside hitter, had eight kills on 13 attempts along with 6 blocks. Sophomore Mateo Fuerbringer, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, had 8 kills on 15 attempts. Junior Wyatt Davis, a 6-foot-5 middle hitter, had three kills on three attempts. Junior Justin Warner, a 5-foot-11 libero, registered 10 digs. And Chapin, a 6-foot-2 senior, orchestrated the whole astonishing combination, recording 41 assists.
Costa had so many weapons that no one player had to dominate, but instead, they collectively dominated. They have six players who have committed to Division I universities. Any of those players would be the best player on almost any other team in the nation. So deep were the Mustangs that they were without Cooper Keane, a 6-foot-6-inch senior who is the top-ranked outside hitter in the country, and barely missed him. Keane, who recorded 18 kills in the sectional championship against Huntington, was sidelined with injuries.
“We were blessed with a bunch of depth, so when someone was out, or not playing well, someone else was right there ready to step in and pick up the slack,” Snyder said. “Cooper had a few minor injuries this year and ended the season injured as well, but Thatcher Fahlbusch made it hard to take him off the court …. We had that issue in a few spots but things worked themselves out. It seemed like we needed the depth this year to be as successful as we were.”
Chapin, who along with Keane will play for USC next year, was a key catalyst. A setter is often equated with a quarterback in football or point guard in basketball in that the very best are able to raise their teammates’ games. To opponents, Costa had to be a fearsome spectacle to behold, with its collection of giants leaping and feinting, and Chapin calmly in the middle of it all, always making the right pass at precisely the right time, feeding the beasts.
“That’s my job,” Chapin said.
“He just has a really good feel for the game,” Snyder said. “He reads the other team’s defense, and in every spot we have someone capable of putting a ball away, and he just is really good at making the right decision of who to give that opportunity to, and when. He gets all our great hitters one-on-one matchups, and if you give any of our hitters a one-on-one matchup, it’s pretty much a done deal. Without Andrew, we would not be as efficient or as dominant as we were this season.”
Like most historically great teams, Costa was hellbent on avenging past losses. Alongside Snyder on the bench was former head coach Mike Cook, who was Snyder’s coach in an undefeated season in ‘93 only to fall to Huntington. The coach acknowledged that settling that score “was a little sweeter.”
But more recent losses weighed heavier. Last year’s playoff run ended with a defeat to archrival Loyola High, and that, coupled with the incentive of CIF this year christening the first true State Championship, gave this Mustang squad a different gear.
“I think just to get to that stage last year, getting so close and not coming through with it, motivated this team,” Snyder said.
They also added significant reinforcements. Bradford, a teammate of Chapin’s in club ball whose family lives locally, transferred from Crespi High. Fahlbusch, also a local, somewhat controversially transferred from Loyola.
They lost once earlier this year to Loyola, and on April 5 to Marist, a powerhouse team from Chicago they’d previously defeated. The result was a stacked team entered the state tourney with a determined clarity of purpose, its eyes squarely on the highest prize ever within its reach.
“Mira Costa’s history and just the tradition of this program and the talent we have this year, it just seemed it was meant to be ours, but that doesn’t mean it always goes that way,” Snyder said. “There’s always things that can get in the way, and Huntington was a big roadblock, especially in that Southern Section title match. That was a battle. But I was telling these guys since the beginning that no title season is ever easy. And I’m not sure if they quite believed me, but when we lost to Loyola and lost to Marist, I think they realized there’s more to it than just being talented. You have to want it more. You have to work harder than the other team. And no matter how how much better your talent is, that’s not all that you need to win a championship.”
It also takes grit and unselfishness. The history of sports is littered with teams whose talent was undone by an overabundance of ego. And the Mustangs had, if anything, arguably too much talent. At any given moment throughout the season, a truly elite player could be found on the Costa bench, simply because there wasn’t room on the court for everyone in every match.
Chapin said there was always a next man up mentality.
“It’s just nice to see that, even with guys who would play on any other high school team, just to see when they got their shot they were still locked in, and they wanted to do it, not for just themselves, but also for our team,” he said. “I think that’s also what made our team so strong. We’re all good friends, and we’re all close with one another. It just made it so much easier for us to play together, because there was no selfishness. The end goal was not to be the best player on the team. Nobody wanted to play this year to be CIF Player of the Year, or Bay League MVP. Everybody wanted to win. And it was that selflessness that helped us get it done.”
Snyder said the team’s shiny record belied the internal struggles the team had to overcome.
“At some point, every single person that maybe did have an issue seemed to come back around and realize that it was for the betterment of the team,” he said. “I think they figured those things out as the season went on. Sometimes there was an issue briefly, but it would get ironed out. They would have an opportunity and see their chances. So yes, it wasn’t as smooth as the record suggests, in terms of keeping everyone happy. But if there was a little unhappiness or unease about their playing time, it seemed like at the right time, people put the team first.”
Fahlbusch, who will play for Hawaii next year, told SportsStars magazine that the team’s motto all year was “strength in numbers.” Even the guys who weren’t in the playing rotation, he said, were part of this strength.
“There are so many guys on the bench who are really gnarly players,” he said. “It’s important as a team to have that, because iron sharpens iron. We were just grinding it out every day. We all make each other so much better. We all left our egos behind this year. We are just together for this greater goal.”
Bradford, who will play for UCLA next year, was an exhibit in unselfishness all year long. He was capable of dominating at any given point — such as the 25 kills he scored against Huntington — but he picked his spots. Snyder wasn’t sure what to expect when this gentle but forceful giant joined the team. He wasn’t even sure the team needed him.
“He proved his worth right from the beginning,” Snyder said. “I was expecting a 6-foot-11 dominating volleyball player. But what really caught my eye was how much of a leader he was and how athletic he is. In preseason, he’s winning all of our sprints and races. That was something I did not expect. Usually when you have someone who is 6-foot-11, they aren’t fluid with their body and jumping as high as someone like Grayson does. He puts everything into it. He does everything right in terms of preparing himself and his body. He has zero ego. It’s not all about him. He wants the team to do well first.”
Then there was the young guy. Mateo Fuerbringer comes from local volleyball royalty, so his skills are not unexpected. But the fact he’s started since arriving last year as a freshman and this year was a key cog for the best team in the nation is indicative of a superstar in the making.
“He just does everything so well,” Snyder said. “Every aspect of the game. A lot of stuff that he does just goes unchecked by people who don’t understand the sport. But he fills all the boxes. He’s good at absolutely everything. He has a volleyball mind and a high IQ for the sport, and just seems to know where to be and how to read people, and knows what’s needed when. The fact that he was our OH1 [outside hitter in position 1, closest to the setter] on such a deep, deep squad as a sophomore is pretty astounding.”
Heins, as he did for much of this playoff run, set the tone from the beginning against Archbishop Mitty, dominating early in the first set.
“He’s been great all year, but whatever it is, this playoff run he’s had has been amazing,” Snyder said. “He’s uber-efficient. He just takes what is given, and always has an answer for whatever teams throw at him. So setting him up early frees up everyone else, so it’s a smart move getting him going early. It makes our whole night easier. And that is pretty much what happened.”
But what goes on outside the lines of any sport for any team also infuses what occurs between the lines. Snyder said this team endured “a lot of pain” off the court, several players suffering losses in their personal lives. Two of the players were with Braun Levi, the Loyola student and tennis star who lived in Hermosa Beach, on the night he died after being hit by an alleged drunk driver while crossing Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. Chapin acknowledged that what happened that night had a huge impact on the team, and that they hoped to live up to the motto that arose in the days after the tragedy — “Live Like Braun” — in part by giving their all to each moment.
“I would like to say we did that to the best of our ability,” Chapin said. “I mean, that kid — anyone who knew him, and I bet everyone has seen the Instagram stuff — but he was one-of-one. Obviously, everybody misses him, but ever since he passed away, our team was just so much closer together. We knew he would want this for us. Obviously, he was a Loyola guy, but because Loyola lost, he would want us to win, because we were always good friends.”
Levi died on May 4. After Costa’s May 7 win in the early rounds of the CIF playoffs, the entire team put on Loyola High jerseys in his honor. “I never thought I’d be wearing a Loyola shirt,” Chapin said. But suddenly everyone understood that the color of your jersey was just a small part of a game in the larger scheme of things.
“I think because of his passing we all realized there was something greater than just ourselves and volleyball, and that kind of took the pressure off us, too,” Chapin said. “Because obviously everybody wants to win, but there’s bigger problems in life than winning games. I think all of that together made us relax more about what was going on in the playoffs.”
That difference could be felt at the season’s biggest moment, when Huntington clawed back to force a fifth set and threatened to topple Costa’s championship dreams.
“We missed 21 serves and didn’t play well, but part of the reason we were able to win it in the fifth set is because we just had that next ball mentality,” Chapin said. “Like, there’s nothing we can do about it now. We just have to focus on playing one game to 15.”
Which is where sports can transcend just being about sports and touch on the larger questions of how to live — to play for each other, to live in the moment, and to understand the preciousness of that moment. This historic Costa team will now scatter to different colleges and states and time will whirl on, but they will always have this moment.
Something special happened, Chapin said, with this Costa team.
“I’m playing volleyball at the highest level in high school, and I’m doing it with kids that I’ve grown up with and known since I was four years old,” he said. “Just being able to share all those memories together and playing the way we did — I mean, I’ve been playing with Thatcher [Fahlbusch] since I was 11, and that was the last game that I’ll ever get to play with him. I was just super happy that we were able to end on a high note. That was our last shared moment on the court.” ER
