Mira Costa can't handle Loyola
MANHATTAN BEACH >> The Mira Costa boys volleyball team ran into a buzz saw Friday in the form of Loyola star outside hitter Sean Kelly.
Kelly's 30th and final kill finished off rival and topranked Mira Costa in four sets 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 2517, leading No. 3 Loyola to victory in a nonleague matchup between two of the top teams in the country and the CIF Southern Section Division 1 /2 rankings.
“Well, Sean Kelly's the best player in the country for a reason,” Mustangs coach Greg Snyder said. “The only thing you can do is try to serve their team and get him out of system and make the sets not as good as he likes them, but even with that he's still an incredible player.”
Kelly's performance not only stopped Mira Costa (22-2) from extending its 12-match win streak, but his seven kills in the opening frame immediately put an end to the Mustangs' string of 19 consecutive sets won entering the contest.
Mira Costa rebounded by pulling out a second set that neither team led by more than two points.
Tied at a set apiece, Loyola (15-1) then took control of the match for good midway through the third set.
Kelly sparked a 6-1 run to push the Cubs' advantage to 19-12 and the Mustangs never threatened again.
Kelly, though, credited his teammates' defense for making such a performance possible.
“We were all digging well,” Kelly said. “Everyone was playing well on our side. It was not just a one-man show, at all.
“It fires us up because it shows that whatever we do in the practice gym pays off.”
Loyola also went the entire third without an attack error.
“We're the top two teams, in my opinion, in the country,” Cubs coach Michael Boehle said. “We had to win the serve and pass tonight, that was huge for us. ... It was a tiring match, but we got some runs and we just didn't stop. We kept the pressure on them.”
Mira Costa outside hitter Cooper Keane, who paced the team with 13 of his 17 kills over the first two sets, said he noticed Loyola's block loading up on Mustangs captain and outside hitter Victor Loiola early.
Loiola was limited to five kills, and Boehle said he was content with living with the results of giving up points elsewhere.
“Their middles ate us up pretty good and we were willing to give that up,” Boehle said. “We knew they were pretty pin-heavy. Victor's a tank. He's our Sean Kelly.”
By the fourth, Keane said he saw himself and his Mira Costa teammates “roll over.” The Mustangs were within 9-7 before the Cubs reeled off the next six points to begin pulling away.
Going forward, Keane added, the team's energy needs to be more “consistent” throughout a match.
“We lost all confidence,” Keane said. “This game, we just got too low…and we need to not do that.”
Much of Mira Costa's issues started with its passing, with a number of touches not quite connecting and attackers mistiming jumps at other moments.
In addition, Snyder said his team's serve was “off the entire night.” The Mustangs had 13 errors from the service line, including five each in the first and final sets.
“We were doing things that were uncharacteristic of us,” Snyder said. “Some of the things were shocking, in terms of decision-making, like tipping too often, not being aggressive with our swings. Some of that was location and bad passing that led to those things. So, it just wasn't our best effort.
“The good thing is it's just a regular-season game. It doesn't mean anything more than seedings. It doesn't feel good, that's for sure. But it's a lesson.”