Cara Martinez
Staff Writer
It was no surprise that Mira Costa girls beach volleyball team dominated at championships making this their 69th straight win.
Mira Costa girls beach volleyball won its 5th straight IBVL Championships on Saturday May 13 at Ocean Park. They won 2-0 against Notre Dame in quarterfinals and in semifinals they won 2-0 against Laguna Beach and in finals they won 2-0 against Palisades Charter.
“We tried to do the best we could and to win all of our games,” senior Maddie Micheletti said. “It was really good competition today and all of the games were pretty close on our court.”
The first seed team consisting of Micheletti and Alexia Inman won 21-13 but did not finish the second game.
Micheletti said her team focused on ball control in the harsh winds and they tried to get as many points as possible before the opposing team could get a lead.
“We stayed strong and never gave up,” Monk said. “My team played really well and we held our own and executed.”
Senior Sunny Villapando and junior Piper Monk-Heidrich made up the second seed team winning 21-5 and 21-15. Monk said that they served consistently and they ran backup sets when the wind picked up.
“It was important for us to get that win off the bat because it would make our one’s and two’s courts confident in themselves,” senior Rio Frohoff said.”We only needed one other court to win and it gave us a sense of security going into the last couple points of the games.”
Frohoff and freshman Olivia Bakos made up the third seed team winning all of their games 21-7 and 21-12. Frohoff said they focused on siding out right away and having a good serve receive pass.
The Mustangs 14-0 will next play in State Championship at Chatsworth next weekend on Saturday against the Northern California champion Branson, the San Diego champion Point Loma and the Southern California runner-up Palisades Charter.
“The team play was solid for the entire playoffs,” Coach Eric Fonoimoana said. “Olivia Bakos and Rio Frohoff would run to the other courts to cheer on their teammates and it helped motivate and encourage the teammates still playing.”
Micheletti said that the team is focusing on playing well as a team and working on serve receive and fixing up small things before state Championships. Frohoff said the team is currently working hard on practice Monday and Wednesday of this week to prepare for state.
“I am excited for State Championships to be able to play at a different area and to have the chance to win the title as state champion, Micheletti said.” “It’s my last high school beach game so that will be emotional and great at the same time.”
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