Andrew Fasano
Staff Writer
The Mustangs’ fans piled into Fisher Gym on Tuesday, hoping for a repeat of last year’s 3-0 sweep over Newport Harbor High School.
Mira Costa’s boys volleyball team lost to Newport Harbor in three games, 25-18, 25-22 and 26-24, in its first home game of the season on Tuesday night. Junior outside hitter Max Cajuste totaled 15 kills on the night, but it wasn’t enough for the Mustangs as they were unable to stop Newport Harbor’s potent offense.
“Tonight wasn’t our best performance,” Cajuste said. “Aside from a few good moments, we gave up too many easy points in the beginning of each game, making comebacks very difficult.”
The Mustangs lost the first game, 25-18, despite four kills from Cajuste. After trailing early, 8-1, the Mustangs were unable to find their rhythm due to inconsistent serves throughout the rest of the set.
Photos: Mustangs warming up prior to its first home game against Newport Harbor.
“We started the game shaky, and the scoreboard showed that,” Cajuste said. “We played well from then on, but it was just too little, too late for us to find our way.”
Despite three missed serves for Newport Harbor in the second game, the Mustangs were unable to stage a comeback, losing 25-22. Passing and setting miscues were the cause of the defeat, junior outside hitter Bobby Barkley said.
Video: Costa junior Christian Cavallo starts the rally, while junior outside hitter Max Cajuste finishes the play for the Mustangs in their 3-0 home defeat to Newport Harbor High School on Tuesday (March 21). The Mustangs failed to win a set, forcing a quick victory for Newport Harbor.
“We had a solid second part of the second game,” Barkley said. “We were able to make some clutch plays to keep us in the game; unfortunately, we were just unable to keep the momentum through the entire game.”
The Mustangs began the third game with an early ace from junior outside hitter Dane Johnson and two quick kills from Cajuste, both of whom were assisted by Barkley. “We played our best volleyball in the third game,” Barkley said. “We had some very important plays that helped us gain a lot of the momentum. We just couldn’t hold onto our leads, allowing for too much of a shift in momentum.”
Costa, 5-3 overall, played yesterday at Peninsula High School, but the results were not avaliable at the time of publication.
“A loss like this shows the talent and potential we have to mainly compete and also to win important games,” Johnson said. “It just takes hard work and focus in practice and the instinct to dial in when we really need to.”
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