Girl’s Beach Volleyball State Championships

tumblr_oms5fuQax51u2sxh2o2_540 — Senior Alexia Inman bumps a ball to her teammate during her victory over Palos Verdes High School on Monday, March 13th, 2017. Inman signed with the University of California-Berkeley, where she will continue her beach volleyball career.

Cara Martinez

Staff Writer

Mira Costa Girls beach volleyball takes another win, receiving first place at their first Inaugural State Championship meet finishing off the season 71-0.

Mira Costa Girls played semifinals against Branson 2-0 and finals against Palisades Charter 2-0 on May 31 in Chatsworth. They hold a current season record 16-0.

The first seed team consisted of senior Sunny Villapando and junior Piper Monk scored 21-16 and 12-7. Costa won the third match and then the second match so the first team seed didn’t finish their game. Monk said that the team worked on playing two down defense and staying quick despite of the heat.

“We played really well together and we were consistent,” Monk said. “It was a really cool experience because it was the first time there was a state tournament.”

The second seed team consisted of seniors Maddie Micheletti and Alexia Inman who won both of their sets 21-9 and 21-4. Micheletti said that they used the heat to their advantage and performed faster momentum volleyball plays to score points.

“We were really efficient and we got our games over with earlier so we had enough time to rest,” Micheletti said. “We didn’t make many mistakes which was nice.”

Senior Rio Frohoff and sophomore Riley Hazelrigg made up the third seed team.They won their first game 21-7 and Palisades forfeited in their second game. Hazelrigg said that they worked on communication, setting tight and trying to get the ball down.

“I feel that Rio really led the team and I feel we played really well together,”Hazelrigg said. “It was really good outcome and this was the first ever state game there was. “We are all really happy with the outcome and we kept our winning streak.”

Micheletti said that during this season they worked the most on serve receive which was one of the most fundamental things they could do to score points. They focused on recognizing tendencies of the other teams so therefore they can get points.

“The team saved their best performance for state,” Coach Eric Fonoimoana said. “This team was the most physical and dominant team I’ve coached in the last five years.”