By Eric Brodkin
Sports Editor
Boys volleyball defeated Bay League Rivals Redondo High School 3-0 in the Mustangs’ final regular season game on Wednesday. Costa defeated the Seahawks earlier in the season, and are undefeated in the Bay League. The Mustangs finished with a record of 29-2, and are currently ranked number one in the country.
Costa started off strong, winning the first set 25-22. The Seahawks were able to keep the first set close due to a decent offensive performance. However, Costa’s offense was too strong, and they pulled away with the first set. Senior middle Alex Heins and senior opposite hitter Grayson Bradford got past the blockers with ease and found success at the net. Senior outside hitter Thatcher Fhablush finished the set with a big spike to end it.
“We spread our offense out really well, which kept the blockers guessing where it was gonna go,” Bradford said. “We also blocked a lot of balls and had great defense behind the block.”
The second set was largely controlled by the Mustangs as they won the set 25-14 and started to run away with the match. Costa’s defense was a big contributor to the second-set win as senior setter Andrew Chapin had huge blocks up front to prevent the Seahawk offense from scoring. However, it was a big ace from junior Pablo Pascual that clinched the set for the Mustangs and gave them the momentum they needed heading into the last set. According to Chapin, the team was confident going into this game that they would have success.
“As far as gameplan goes, we didn’t really have much of one,” Chapin said. “We had certain people that we picked out from film that we targeted with serving and certain defensive strategies behind our block, but there wasn’t much gameplan. We had confidence in ourselves that we were the better team, and that it was our game to win. So we went out, and played hard and were able to come out with a win.”
The Mustangs closed the game off with a 25-13 win in the third set. Costa’s offense was unstoppable all game, but showed their strength in the last round. A big swing by senior outside hitter Connor Kaiser put the Mustangs up late and made it hard for the Seahawks to make any type of comeback. Costa ended the game with a swing off of an option by junior setter Josh Farbman to sweep the Seahawks 3-0. After ending the season ranked number one in the country and only suffering two losses all season, the Mustangs head into playoffs expecting a CIF championship according to Chapin.
“We know our potential and how good we can be when we play hard and play together, and we know what we can accomplish,” Chapin said. “We all have our minds set on winning that CIF title, and that’s what drives us to want to compete and play together, which is what helps us win these big rivalry games.”
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