Mira Costa wins Best of the West Tournament
The Mira Costa boys volleyball went into the Best of the West Tournament following a five-set loss Wednesday to Newport Harbor.
The teams met again Saturday in the final of the tournament in San Diego, and Mira Costa won 25-19, 25-19.
The Mustangs' Victor Loiola was selected tournament MVP. Alex Heins and Johnny Dykstra earned alltournament honors.
Mira Costa (18-1) started the tournament Friday by finishing first in Pool A. The Mustangs defeated Carlsbad (21-25, 25-23, 1715), Clovis North (25-15, 2517) and Tesoro (22-25, 25-15, 15-9).
Saturday's playoff bracket started with Mira Costa sweeping San Clemente (25-17, 25-18) and Punahou (25-12, 25-20). Mira
Costa swept Torrey Pines (22-25, 25-20, 15-10) in the semifinals.
“It's really stacked in California this year and this tournament was a tough as I can remember,” Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder said. “To come out on top is a testament to the hard wok the guys have put in.”
It was apparent in the first match it was going to be a challenging weekend. Mira Costa dropped the opening set against Carlsbad and had to rally from down 13-11 to win the third set.
“A loss could have changed the outcome (of the tournament),” Snyder said. “Carlsbad put up a huge wall and gave us problems. We weren't in a group yet, we weren't passing as well as we're accustomed to, but the guys were able to grit that match out.
“It was a tough pool and the teams came to play. I think we did enough to win some of the tight matches and came through when it counted.”
The Mustangs also dropped the first set against Tesoro in the final pool play game, but regrouped to win the pool.
The Mustangs' road to the final hit a bump Saturday
in the opening set against Torrey Pines. Mira Costa dropped the first set, but won the next two. Torrey Pines had defeated Newport Harbor in three sets in the pool play Friday.
“We faced a lot of big hitters, so blocking was a necessity,” Snyder said. “Everyone played well. Jett (Bathurst) came in at setter and played extremely well. Zach Chapin was great on defense. Dom Bell came in and gave us a great effort against Carlsbad and Mateo (Fuerbringer) really played well as a freshman. ... It was a complete team effort.
“Maybe in hindsight, the loss to Newport Harbor (Wednesday) was a good thing. When we play with energy, the team plays well.”
The Mustangs head into Bay League play this week with matches against Santa Monica (home, today), Culver City (home, Wednesday) and Peninsula (road, Friday).
Mira Costa has moved up to No. 1 in this week's CIFSouthern Section Division 1/2 poll.