Staff Writer
Coming off a successful CIF championship season, the Mira Costa boys volleyball preseason is underway.
The Mustangs played their second preseason game on Tuesday against Newport Harbor High School, winning the match in three games and improving the boys’ record to 2-0. Kills from junior middle blocker Connor Inlow and senior outside hitters Casey White and Riley Mallon brought the score to 8-5 in the Mustangs’ favor in game one. Costa continued with two kills by White and an ace for Mallon. After several other triumphant plays, Costa led, 13-6.
“I’ve been working really hard on my jump serve because that has always been a weak part of my game,” Mallon said.
“I’m glad that all the hard work is paying off.”
Newport surged back with several kills and an ace, closing the gap and bringing the score to 18-14 in Costa’s favor. But Newport continued to fight, bringing the score to 21-19. Overcoming the last-minute surge, Costa senior middle blocker Miles Johnson scored the final point of the first game to win 25-20.
“Our coach challenged us to play the next game hard all the way through,” White said. “We came out with more energy and a better mentality.”
Johnson started the second game off with a block and kill. Senior setter Grant Chalmers added to the lead with two more kills. However, Newport was able to narrow Costa’s lead to 9-6. Newport had a three-point streak, but a combination of kills from White and Mallon finally gave Costa a 25-15 win.
“I felt a lot more confident in the second and third game compared to the first,” Johnson said. “The win in the first
game gave us more confidence to pull through in the end even when the pressure was on.”
With kills from Johnson, Mallon, Inlow and Chalmers, as well as an ace from senior libero Dillon Shambaugh, Costa led the third game, 19-8. Newport Harbor was able to dig two hits by Mallon and one by senior middle blocker Scott Stephanoff during a rally but lost the point when junior outside hitter Clay Carr hit the ball out of bounds. This brought the score to 22-12. Senior outside hitter Josh Cavallo came in for Costa and aced Newport for the game point. Costa won the game with a final score of 25-15.
“We played well in the first two games, and we knew we couldn’t let up in the third,” Inlow said. “We did a great job finishing the match.”
The boys’ next game will take place today in the “Best of the West Tournament,” but the location was unavailable at the time of publication.
“We came out with enthusiasm, and everyone contributed to the win,” coach Mike Ninnis said. “Cavallo put an exclamation point on the end with his ace.”
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