Mira Costa Volleyball Team Sweeps Redondo to Stay on Top

Minus two key contributors, the Mira Costa boys volleyball team still disposed of crosstown rival Redondo Union relatively easily Thursday night on their home court.

Keeping their unbeaten record intact (16-0, 3-0), the Mustangs swept Redondo in three sets 25-21, 25-15 and 25-20 at Fisher Gym.

Jake Miller and Chris Orenic did not play in the contest. Miller likely will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered in Tuesday's win over West Torrance. Orenic was sitting out with an ankle sprain but should return to the team soon.

Mira Costa, the number one ranked team in the nation, jumped out to early leads of 7-0, 6-2 and 7-2 and would not look back in any of their sets, never relinquishing a lead in their impressive route of the Sea Hawks (17-5, 2-1).

“Redondo is a great program and we’re obviously happy with the win," said Mira Costa coach Mike Ninnis. "Having Chris and Jake out, that’s two big parts of our team, but we practice hard every day and our players are ready to step in when needed."

“It’s nice getting those big leads because we play free and our opponents get more frustrated and that leads to more errors usually,” Karl Acres said.

The closest of the three sets was the first, as Redondo climbed out of the 7-0 hole to bring the match to within three at 18-15 after a Riley Theunissen kill.

Acres would tomahawk one of his six kills of the night to keep the Sea Hawks temporarily at bay, but Theunissen would counter soon after and pull Redondo to within two at 20-18.

“We came in missing two of our main guys, but we just kept with our game plan and stuck to what we do and executed,” Acres said.

The Mustangs would finish on a 5-3 run fueled by Kameron Bain’s expert passing to his outside hitters D.J. White and Zack Proctor.

Seniors Proctor and Weston Carico filled in admirably for the Mustangs, with Proctor contributing 7 kills and 4 blocks.

“Kameron had a smart game and Zack and Weston stepped in and were both tremendous tonight,” Ninnis said.

White led the Mustangs with 12 kills and four blocks and Bain tallied 27 assists in the match.

“I think passing was big tonight, our setter [Kameron Bain] did a great job of setting everyone up,” White said.

The Mustangs caught Redondo on a 14-day layoff in part due to the school's spring break. Mira Costa, on the other hand, took a trip to Hawaii and competed over spring break last week, picking up a pair of wins while overseas.

“Playing two big matches out there I think was more good experience for us," said Ninnis. "Particularly, the Punahou crowd can be pretty intimidating and that’s a great environment for us to be around."

The Mustangs head north to Santa Barbara for a tournament Friday and Saturday and then return to pursue a perfect run through the Bay League, with five matches remaining in league play, including traveling to Redondo on May 3.

“They definitely did not play their best and I wish they would have played better," said White. "We know the second time around is going to be a lot different.” 

Some say that this year’s Mira Costa boys volleyball team is not as star-studded as previous lineups, but watching the Mustangs play this season one is left wondering do they really need “stars?”