By Zane Franklin
Staff Writer
The Costa boys volleyball team accomplished a rare feat this season, losing only two of 35 games. But in an unexpected end to its season, the team suffered a loss in the CIF quarterfinals against Mater Dei High School.
The Mustangs fell to the Monarchs in five games with final scores 27-29, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18 and 9-15. The game took place at Mater Dei’s gym on May 14. The Mustang volleyball team ended its season with a near-perfect record of 33-2 overall.
“We battled hard,” senior D.J. White said. “We give a lot of credit to Mater Dei and their team because they definitely deserved to win this one.”
White led the attacks in the first game, allowing Costa to dominate in the begining. However, Mater Dei senior Zach La Cavera and junior John Zappia caught the Mustangs off guard with aggressive kills. The Monarchs came out with energy that Costa was not prepared for, and the Mustangs fell 27-29 in the first game.
“Unfortunately, we ran into a very hot Mater Dei team at their home court,” coach Mike Ninnis said.
After stepping up their defense, the Mustangs matched the Monarchs in the second game by getting the ball to more players and past the Monarchs’ tough defense. Plays from White and juniors Chris Orenic and Karl Acres helped Costa finish strong with a win at 25-20.
“We spread the ball around a lot,” Ninnis said. “Our passing cleaned up, we got some good plays and things were clicking.”
Mater Dei returned with overwhelming energy and overpowered the Mustangs. Costa was outmatched and ended the third
game 25-14.
“They came out with a lot of energy while we didn’t,” junior Michael Debevec said. “I would
say their crowd got to us.”
Spikes by Acres helped the Mustangs gain an early lead in the fourth, showing Mater Dei why they received the number-one seed in the CIF playoffs. They extended the match to a fifth game with a comfortable win at 25-18.
The Mustangs were hammered by Mater Dei’s hitters in the final game, though, and could not gather enough energy to stage a comeback on Mater Dei. The Monarchs closed off the last game with a score of 15-9.
White led the Mustangs with 15 kills and four blocks, while Acres and Orenic followed close behind with 12 kills each. Senior setter Kameron Bain aided the team 40 assists.
“D.J. had a tremendous senior year,” Ninnis said. “I can really go right down the list. Everybody helped the team.”
After two highly successful seasons, Costa has high hopes of doing well again next year despite the loss of several key seniors.
“We’re losing some seniors, but we are going to have a pretty solid team with all of the players returning,” Debevec said. “It should be another good season.”
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