On paper, it looked as only one of 16 second-round contests, but Thursday’s showdown between Mira Costa and Marymount had the feeling of a championship match.
Moments after Katie Rethmeyer delivered the killing blow giving Mira Costa a 25-14, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21 victory, friends and family rushed the court to join the team in a celebration usually reserved for a title game.
There was no presentation of a CIF plaque, but that mattered little to the players who posed for a team photo and the Mustang students who hugged the student athletes while parents held cameras high in the air to capture the moment.
After being eliminated in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1-AA playoffs the last three seasons, Mira Costa finally cleared the hurdle.
“This win feels great,” senior Lan Nguyen said. “It (getting past the second round) was something we wanted to accomplish this year.”
The manner in which Mira Costa advanced made the win extra special. Not only did the Mustangs defeat the defending CIF champions, they eliminated non-league rival Marymount – a school that enrolls numerous students from the South Bay and a team with players who are teammates of many of the Mustangs during club ball season.
“We’ve haven’t beaten them in the last few years so we wanted to give everything we had in this one,” said Skylar Caputo, who had a team-high 16 kills. “We finally got past the second round and it feels so good. We just want to go all the way now.”
After convincing wins in first two sets, Mira Costa suddenly seemed to be facing the Marymount team of old. The Sailors carried the momentum from their game three win into the fourth set. Mira Costa had to rally to tie the score at 16 before pulling ahead for good.
“That was a really good win for us,” Mira Costa head coach Lisa Zimmerman said. “Finishing is a key part. Coming out strong is something the girls like to do. They were excited to come out and play, but finishing is really tough to do. Marymount is a great team and we really had to withstand them coming back and fighting but we fought just as hard.”
Mira Costa (24-8) hopes its momentum carries over to Saturday when the Mustangs will travel to take on Los Alamitos (29-5) in the quarterfinals.
Zimmerman hopes the loud atmosphere inside Fisher Gym will help prepare her team to face the top-seeded Griffins. At one point in the match, play was stopped after Marymount’s coach complained to officials about the Mira Costa student section.
“We haven’t seen that kind of excitement in a while,” Zimmerman said. “It was pretty crazy. It’s the local thing where they know everybody and are all friends. I’m just happy not to be down in Orange County right now because that’s where we were sent the last two years. It’s (the win) special for this team which has been exceptional. They’re the hardest working and a tight team unit which is rare these days because there is always another team to go to in a month or two. They really bought in to the team concept and they did it themselves. We have three seniors only but they took the younger class and taught them to believe and how to work hard. I’m really happy for them.”
Mira Costa’s defense came up big throughout the match. Along with six kills Rethmeyer, had five blocks and was a force at the net. Brooke Feld, Sammy Furlan, Keala Rusher and Emma Smith had strong performances.
At the service line, Furlan had four aces and Feld had three.
Nguyen recorded 10 kills and Phina Leilua had six kills and three blocks.
Mira Costa looks to avenge an early-season home loss to Los Alamitos when the visitors prevailed with a 28-26, 15-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-13 win on Sept. 27.
“We’re playing so much better now,” Caputo said. “We just want to take them down. Standings don’t matter in this division.”
Zimmerman feels her young team is ready to face the top-ranked team.
“We’re really confident after the teams we’ve played and how we’ve experience things, but it’s going to be a really tough place to play,” Zimmerman said. “We’re just going to turn it around and imagine everyone is cheering for us. We’re going to go all out and have no regrets.”
While Mira Costa was reveling in its win, across town Redondo Union was taking care of its own business.
The second-seeded Sea Hawks (30-5) held off a determined Marlborough team 25-22, 26-28, 25-17, 25-17 and will travel to Temecula to face No. 10 Great Oak, a 3-0 winner over No. 8 Dana Hills.
Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani recorded 20 kills and two blocks and Abril Bustamante contributed 19 kills, three blocks and 10 digs for Redondo
Briana Lanktree posted 15 kills and 13 digs, setter Norene Iosia had 70 assists and had three aces and Hayes Honea’s added 15 digs.
In Division 1-A, Bishop Montgomery (12-17) had its season come to an end with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-21 loss at No. 6 Chino Hills.
In Division 2-AA, No. 5 North Torrance (22-6) advanced with a 25-12, 25-20, 25-8 win at Corona. The Saxons travel to No. 4 Los Osos on Saturday.
Sixth-ranked South Torrance (24-10) also reached the quarterfinals with a 25-18, 20-25, 29-27, 25-23 win at No. 10 Norco. The Spartans will host fourth-seeded Rancho Cucamonga (24-6).
El Segundo (13-12) ended its season with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 loss to second-seeded Oaks Christian (28-5).
In Division 2-A, No. 10 Chadwick (17-7) upset No. 6 Oxnard 25-23, 25-19, 17-25, 25-18 and will travel to No. 4 Troy (31-4).
Eighth-ranked Vistamar (20-7) advanced to the Division 4-A quarterfinals with a 25-11, 25-16, 25-16 win over visiting Duarte and will host top-seeded Laguna Blanca (15-2).
Brackets and results are available at cifss.org.
