Andrew Fasano
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s boys beach volleyball team concluded its season Saturday in California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs with a win in the quarterfinals over Harvard Westlake but suffered a semifinal loss to Saddleback Valley.
During the Harvard Westlake match, seniors Jackson Wedbush and Roy Mcfarland dominated, winning 21-12 and 21-15. Both players were top performers, contributing to the win with each scoring approximately 10 kills in the two games.
“We played well against Harvard Westlake but unfortunately, our performance was not where it should have been against Saddleback,” McFarland said. “If we had played the way we did in the beginning, we’d be in the finals.”
In the other match-ups against Harvard Westlake, partners sophomore Dane Johnson and senior John Conde won 21-15 in both games. During the two games, Conde had seven kills and five blocks while Johnson had approximately eight kills and two blocks.
“We displayed great playing during our first match,” Conde said. “Johnson and I played well together, not only today, but the entire season.”
Lastly, against Harvard Westlake, sophomore Ethan Shinn and senior Declan Wright won each of their games, 21-16. Shinn had 20 kills in two games whereas Wright had approximately 10 kills and two blocks.
“I feel like we played well against Westlake,” Shinn said. “We came up big when we needed to, which led us to shutting them out.”
The Mustangs were unable to advance to the CIF finals but, according to Johnson, the season was still considered a success. Each of the Mustang teams was defeated by Saddleback Valley.
“The weather this weekend was ridiculous,” Wright said. “It was affecting us and everyone else on the sand. We were a little slow and tired from the heat but we still continued to work our hardest, but unfortunately we were unable to come up with a win.”
In the games against Saddleback, the Mustang teams were switched around. Johnson and Shinn lost, 21-18 and 21-16. Mcfarland and Wedbush were defeated 21-15 and 21-19, and Conde and Wright lost the first game, 22-20, won the second, 21-11, but didn’t play the third as all the other Costa teams had lost.
“Even though we ended the season in third place, I don’t consider this a success,” Wright said. “We wanted to win very badly this year. Even though most schools would appreciate third, Costa has a reputation for winning. It was a tough loss to end on, but we all look forward to the indoor season.”
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