By Rebecca Hext
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa boys volleyball team defeated rival Loyola High School, the number-one ranked team in the nation, to take home the CIF Divsion I championship on May 19 at Cypress College.
Each game was tightly contested, but Costa gained an early edge by winning the first two games. After facing two match points in the third, Loyola won two consecutive games to force a fifth and final game, but Costa edged out a 15-12 win in the fifth game to take home the crown.
“We came out strong, and we caught them off guard,” senior outside hitter Kevin Inlow said. “We served well for the first time this year during CIF, and it was huge to get that win.”
Costa jumped out to a quick start in the first game, winning 25-19, marking the first time Loyola had lost a set in the CIF playoffs. The second set was again tightly contested until Costa gained a three-point lead with two powerful hits from senior outside hitter Keith Waddell and a Loyola missed serve. Costa was able to maintain its lead and finish the second game with a 25-22 win.
“It was nice to jump out and win those first couple games in the match,” coach Mike Ninnis said. “We knew that if we got them on their heels with those games, we could rattle them.”
With the season on the line in the third set, Loyola came out charging. Costa fought hard to keep the match from extending another game.
“We didn’t want the match to go into the fifth game, so we were fighting hard to get the sweep in three games,” senior middle blocker Karl Acres said.
Loyola jumped out to an early lead, and toward the end of the game the Mustangs found themselves down by a daunting 20-15 score; however, they rallied to tie the score at 22-22. Costa had the opportunity to close the match with two championship points, but Loyola fought back to win the match, 27-25.
“We came out a little bit flat, and Loyola fought back,” senior libero Brooks Varni said. “We were able to hang with Loyola, but they ended up edging out the win in the end of that game.”
Loyola rode the momentum from its game-three win to a fast start in the fourth game. Loyola took an early lead with the help of its star outside hitter, the UCLA-bound Nick Porterfield, who scored four consecutive points to make the score 14-9. Loyola was able to maintain its lead and finish the game with a score of 25-21 to force a decisive fifth game.
“We didn’t execute our game in the third and fourth games, and [they] took advantage of our unforced errors,” Waddell said. “We had a comfortable lead for most of the game also, which is when those guys play their best.”
With the final game only going to 15 points instead of the usual 25, Costa knew it had to secure an early lead. The Mustangs came out firing, taking an early 5-3 lead, but Loyola fought back to tie it up 8-8. The Costa boys quickly secured another two-point lead, with the score 14-12.
Facing a third championship point, Porterfield served into the net, giving Costa the fifth game and its seventh CIF championship in school history. “We have worked so hard for multiple years for this,” senior Chris Orenic said. “It was the best crowd I have ever seen.”
By the end of five sets, senior setter Jackson Carr had accumulated 58 assists and 10 blocks and Inlow recorded nine kills.
“It’s exciting we get to try for the first triple crown in Mira Costa history,” Carr said.
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