By Hannah Proctor
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa girls volleyball team won a close match in three games against the Palos Verdes Peninsula Panthers on Tuesday. Costa’s record now improves to 7-6 overall on the season and 3-0 in Bay League.
Although Costa has a history of beating the Panthers on the road, the Mustangs were proud of their success and the way in which they came together as a team.
“We had really good chemistry as a team today,” junior Kelsey McIntire said. “We practiced all week on being on the same page for every point.”
The Mustangs won their first game against Peninsula, 25-22. Kills by senior captain Maddy Klineman and junior Lexi Millington helped the Mustangs climb up the scoreboard and pull out a close win in the first game of the match.
Klineman and Millington led the team in kills; Klineman had 17 kills and Millington had six. Junior Corie Bain led the team in assists with a total of 25. Senior captain Katie Warshaw led the team in digs with a total of eight. It was all of the individual efforts combined, though, that led to the Mustangs’ win.
“As a team, we passed better than we have all season,” Bain said. “We also served and received with consistency, and we felt that we fought harder than Peninsula did. Overall, I think we played a great game.”
Despite losing a short argument between coach Lisa Zimmerman and the referees over whether a Mustang player had touched the net, Costa pulled through and won the next game with a final score of 25-21. Even though the Panthers had built long point streaks, Costa played well and squeaked out the second win. Peninsula suffered from many unforced outs and misses during the second game, giving Costa easy points in addition to the those which they had to put in work to earn.
“We had a lot of fun in this game,” McIntire said. “When we are all having fun on the court, we almost always play our best volleyball as a team.”
Mira Costa swept the Panthers and won the third and final game, 25-20. The lead changed hands multiple times during the third game and neither team fell behind by more than two points until the very end. This trend was eventually stopped for good when the Mustangs took the lead over the Panthers at 20 points.
“The girls really took care of our side of the net defensively today against Peninsula,” assistant coach Nancy Reynolds said. “We perfected the fundamentals of the game and did not let the Panthers go on too many long winning streaks over us, which is a key component to winning.”
This year, five players are playing varsity for the first time, so the lack of varsity experience provides a unique obstacle. The players have had to work harder to develop team chemistry and adjust to the faster pace of play seen at the varsity level. Since the start of the season, the Mustangs have begun to coalesce and play with the type of awareness that the coaching staff has envisioned since the start of the season.
“We really stepped it up in every aspect of the game so far this season,” McIntire said. “The main thing we have going for us is our team chemistry and communication on the court.”
The Mustangs looked to continue their winning ways in their next game against their Bay League rival Redondo Union High School at home on Thursday, but results were not available due to the time of publication.
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