By Bobby Wymbs
Staff Writer
Girls volleyball traveled to Las Vegas last Friday to compete in the Durango Fall Classic Tournament and was the division champions of the Bronze Bracket.
The Mustangs entered the tournament as one of 63 teams and finished in 17th place overall.
“In the tournament, I feel that we played some of our best volleyball,” junior outside hitter Skylar Caputo said. “We represented Costa as one of the dominant volleyball teams in the tournament.”
Costa began pool play on Friday and faced Flagstaff High School, then Riverside High School and later finished second to Horizon High School from Arizona.
“I am happy about getting second in the pool,” junior middle blocker Katie Rethmeyer said. “The game we lost we came out strong in the first set but couldn’t win the following sets.”
In the final game against Horizon, the Mustangs fell, 30-28, in the first set. Costa lost to Horizon in the second set, 25-15, allowing Horizon to take first in pool play.
“The first set we should’ve won, and the second set, we just fell apart,” sophomore defensive specialist Emma Smith said.
The team’s pool performance advanced it to the Bronze Bracket at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada.
“Each match, we tried to control our side of the net and play aggressive defense,” coach Lisa Arce-Zimmerman said. “Our defense was so good that our hitters were able to be overly aggressive at the net. It was a really impressive tournament for the young squad, and I feel that we were very successful in the tournament.”
Costa defeated Liberty High School in the quarterfinals of the Bronze Bracket, advancing the girls to the semifinals.
“We had been building momentum throughout the day, so I knew we would be tough to beat,” junior outside hitter Katrina Kernochan said.
With a win against Branson High School in the semifinals, Costa qualified for the championship game against La Costa Canyon High School.
“We all stepped up and played our best with strong ball control,” senior libero Brooke Feld said.
In the first game, the Mustangs defeated La Costa Canyon, 25-13. The second game was a back and forth set, with Costa losing in the end, 25-23. The girls came back and won their third game, 25-17.
“We knew that La Costa Canyon was the team to beat,” Caputo said. “We wanted to win and show that we are a team that deserves to play in the higher level brackets for future tournaments.”
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