Sports
Costa Cruises Into CIF Division 2 Regional Final
Mustangs' boys volleyball team sweeps Norco behind Donahue and Mochalski, setting up finals match up with San Diego Mt. Carmel.
After poor performances on Saturday and Tuesday, first in a loss in the CIF-Southern Section Finals and then in a victory the first-round of the CIF Division 2 Regional, the Mira Costa High Mustangs were adamant about coming out prepared to take on a tough Norco team in the regional semifinal.
And behind incredible performances on Thursday from seniors Kevin Donohue and Eric Mochalski, the Mustangs easily swept the Cougars in three sets, winning 25-16, 25-15, 25-19.
"We had a good practice yesterday and we just came out here to have fun," Mochalski said. "For some of us, it was our last match in this gym, ever, so we just wanted to have fun with it."
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The first set was full of strong offense and defense on both sides of the net, causing a series of out of system plays. Costa capitalized, executing with kills on each point. A string of kills from Mochalski and senior Jace Olsen finished out the set 25-16.
With momentum, Costa dominated the second set. They forced the Cougars to make more offensive errors and took them out of system. Senior stars Taylor Sander and Trevor Loop attempted to make big plays at the net, but their efforts were not enough to bring Norco back in the game.
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Costa went up 18-10 before a Norco time out, and the Mustangs ended the set with a DJ White kill.
Set three was all about Donohue and Mochalski. With multiple kills each before the score even reached 6-5, the seniors were out to make a statement. Donohue stepped back to serve and rattled off five aces in a row, making the score 11-5.
A few Mira Costa errors allowed Norco to stay within four points for the majority of the set, but Donohue's kill at 18-15 gave the Mustangs the push they needed to pull away. Mochalski, in his last point ever played in the Costa gym, finished off the match with an impressive kill.
"They brought a couple of amazing athletes,'' Mochalski said. ''You don't play against guys like that every day. We just had an all around team game, and we were able to slow down their two big players."
As the Mustangs prepare for the Regional Final on Saturday at Irvine Valley College against San Diego Mt. Carmel, Mochalski says their focus is simple. "We're just trying to take the pressure off of us and go out there and have a good time,'' he said.
