By Rebecca Hext
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, the Mira Costa boys volleyball team took care of business at home against West Torrance, winning in three games.
The Mustangs dominated the first game with their first-string lineup and forced West to call two time outs after being down at least 10 points twice. The first game ended with a an emphatic block by senior Kevin Inlow,
ending the game at 25-9.
“It was a nice way to end the game with authority and give us confidence,” Inlow said. “It gave us some momentum heading into the second game.”
Costa then subbed out its starters to give its second stringers playing time. Seniors Chris Griebenow and Michael Debevec paired up to block four hits at the start of game two. With the score at 6-4, Griebenow led the way, collecting several kills in a row; however, West roared back with a rally with three consecutive kills, bringing the score to 14-13.
“We were unfocused at the beginning of the match and played down to their level,” Debevec said. “Luckily for us we were able to dig down and muster up a victory.”
West called a timeout with the score at 17-13, and soon after, Costa committed several errors, including a missed dig, a net call and a missed serve that cost Costa the lead, leaving the score tied at 19-19. Later in the set, up 24-22 and with West in possession, the Costa boys knew they needed to dial it in. After several blocks by
Debevec and Griebenow, senior Matt Tsao collected the winning hit, bringing the final score to a 25-22 win for Costa.
“I think we came out a little too confident for our own good, and that hurt us,” Junior Riley Mallon said. “But overall the game taught us a lot of good things that we needed to work on during practice.”
The third game began with an 8-4 lead for Costa. A questionable hit got West another point, but senior Keith Waddell responded with a hit directly after, bringing the score to 9-5. Senior Riley Thomas had a hit that was brushed by a West player, lengthening Costa’s lead to 14-9. West called a timeout as the team fell
behind at 17-11 and was only able to score two more points until it had a net call that cost the Warriors the game.
“We came out really aggressive and with a lot of energy,” senior Brooks Varni said. “Everyone
played well, and that resulted in a victory for us.”
The boys’ next game will take place today in the Redondo Varsity Classic Tournament. They had a match against Redondo on Thursday, but results were not available due to the time of publication. The boys have an overall record of 18-4 and an undefeated Bay League record of 6-0.
“It was one of those matches where we just needed to go out and take care of business against a team that we knew we were capable of beating,” senior Jackson Carr said. “And I feel like our team as a whole did a great job of keeping up the intensity throughout all three games.”
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