By Katie von Behren
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa boys volleyball team began its California Interscholastic Federation playoff journey at home against Mission Viejo on Tuesday after a strong victory to finish the regular season against Palos Verdes.
The Mustangs defeated Mission Viejo in three games, 25-11, 25-17 and 25-16, to advance to the second round. The boys improved their record to 22-8 overall and 6-2 in Bay League.
“This was a good start for us in our CIF run,” coach Sean Shoptaw said. “I was happy with the way the boys took control early on in the game.”
The boys won the first point of the game with a kill from junior middle blocker Chris Caskey. Junior outside hitter Blake Markland followed with another kill to put Costa up, 2-0. The boys scored two more points before serving out of bounds, still maintaining a 4-1 lead.
“We all stayed focused on each play, and it is great to come up with the win,” junior setter Trevor Liu said.
Costa regained possession with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Roy McFarland. The boys began a rally with a serve from sophomore libero Sam Jones and a kill from opposite hitter Carter Kimble, making the score 7-2. Due to hitting errors from Mission Viejo throughout the game and a kill from senior opposite hitter Connor Inlow, Costa managed to win, 25-11.
“It’s always nice to get the final kill of the set,” Inlow said. “It is awesome to close out a close game.”
Mission Viejo took an early lead to start the second game, but Costa came storming back and took the lead, 9-8, off a spike from Inlow. Inlow continued to serve as Markland contributed two kills and McFarland had a block to advance Costa’s lead to 15-8.
The Diablos scored two more points as Kimble and junior outside hitter Cole Anderson then each had one kill to put Costa in the lead at 17-10.
“We were all focused on each play, which helped us get the win,” McFarland said. “We laid it all out on the court.”
Mission Viejo responded with four quick points, but Caskey delivered a spike for Costa to make the score 18-14. The Mustangs let up a few more points, but senior opposite hitter Jack Smith ended the set with a spike, clinching a 25-17 Mustang victory.
In the third set, senior libero Matt Jones served an ace, followed by multiple blocks off spike attempts by the Diablos, putting Costa up, 13-9. After falling by a few points, Costa rallied to regain possession, attaining a three-point lead, 17-14. Consecutive kills from Anderson and senior middle blocker Jahlani Tavai assisted in the Mustang victory. The set ended with a kill from junior opposite hitter Gage Stroman, giving Costa the win, 25-16.
“We just wanted to have fun out on the court, and with that mind set, it took some pressure off of the CIF game,” Tavai said.
Costa played against Trabuco Hills High School yesterday, but results were unavailable due to the time of publication.
“Our team has so much potential, so we need to keep at it to go far,” Inlow said.
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