Boys Volleyball Final Marks

Mira Costa High School’s loss to Mater Dei in the Division I quarterfinals in boys volleyball was more costly than some imagined.

The Mustangs weren’t among the teams selected Sunday when the Southern California Regional brackets were released. Mira Costa rolled to a 33-1 mark before Mater Dei upset the Mustangs in five games two weeks ago.

Before that, Mira Costa, the Bay League champs, earned a first round victory over El Dorado and a sweep of Simi Valley before its season crashed in surprising fashion.

As far as a regional bid, Mira Costa co-head coach Sean Shoptaw seemed to sense the writing on the wall after the Mater Dei loss.

“This team was an absolute pleasure to coach,” he told Patch. “I love every one of these kids. There’s not a bad thing to say about them. We had a great year, a year most people didn’t think we’d have. I’m proud of them.”

He should be. Mira Costa earned strong play from several players, despite some injuries during the season.

Among the seniors, the Mustangs will have to replace: standout outside hitter D.J. White; setter Kameron Bain; opposite/outside hitter Weston Carico; senior opposite hitter Jake Miller; outside hitter Zack Proctor; and the Ensbury brothers, Nick and Tony. 

And reserve senior Jonny Rawson deserves a shout-out. He seems to have as much personality and bounce as any of the Mustangs. He also appears to know a wide range of hip hop tunes since he frequently bobbed and weaved warmups, no matter where Costa played. 

Stepping out of the shadow

It was score one for the little guys in the Chadwick High School boys volleyball team’s 5-game win over Vistamar for the CIF Division V championship last Saturday at Cypress College. 

“We’re in the shadow of the [Mira] Costas and the Redondos and even the [Chadwick] girls team,” said Chadwick coach Michael Cass, after guiding the team to victory. Cass also coached the Chadwick girls to a CIF title last fall.

“There was every reason for these guys to feel they had something to prove. They did such a wonderful job though of never letting that affect their approach. They wanted to win this for themselves. And they did,” he said.

“We’ve been waiting to win this since day one and we wouldn’t settle for anything less,” said junior outside hitter Hank Trumbull, who had four blocks and a match-high 15 kills. “We started the season off with two losses and we didn’t know what was going on then. But we meshed together as a team and started playing our best volleyball. Now we’ve finally got the title and it feels awesome.”

Chadwick prevailed in the match, 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-10. In addition to Trumbull, the Dolphins also got a strong effort from junior setter James Lenihan, who had a team-high five blocks and 41 assists, and senior outside hitter Ryan Hood, who finished with 14 kills and nine digs. Sophomore Jordan Lucier had a team-high 13 digs.

Larry Feygin lifted Chadwick to its first CIF title in boys volleyball with a match-clinching block in the final game. It completed a late run by Chadwick, which broke a tie at 10 with five consecutive points to capture the crown.

Cass developed a cause of nerves and wasn’t sure his club would pull off the victory after Vistamar evened the score at 10 in the final game, he said.

“It was sloppy to start and the point they got for 10, when it came over the net and dropped, I thought that was the end for us,” Cass said. “I just thought ‘oh my God, that’s it.’ This is going to start their run. But we came back and had a couple of strong blocks. We just positioned well and got [the match.]”

The game went back and forth, with the Dolphins claiming the first game, losing the second, winning the third, and then falling again in the fourth before capturing the match.

“What was so wonderful about the match was we didn’t have to rely solely on one or two weapons,” Cass said. “Hank got us out early, then we got some blocks and served well, then Larry finished with a couple of amazing blocks. And Jordan had a couple of amazing digs in the back. That’s a tribute to how hard these kids worked.”

Chadwick’s ability to frequently stuff Vistamar—Lenihan, Feygin and Trumbull all came up big—at the net was the difference.

“Blocking was definitely a big key,” Trumbull said. “In the end, particularly in the fifth game, it helped us put them down.”

The championship win capped a season when the Dolphins lost their first two matches, one of them to Vistamar, then kicked it in high gear.

“The season has been a great ride,” Trumbull said. “Unbelievable.”

 The Dolphins were eliminated in the first round of the Southern California Regional playoffs this week, falling in three games to Francis Parker of San Diego.

Matt Jamele finished with six kills and Lucier had eight digs. But Chadwick played without several of its key players, who missed the match because they were on a school retreat.

Still, the loss didn’t diminish their wonderful season or outstanding accomplishments. The Dolphins finished with a 23-6 mark.

Redondo’s Ree advances 

Standout Redondo Union High School golfer Lawrence Ree was among the 28 players to advance in next week’s CIF-SCGA Championships.

Ree shot a 75, good enough for a tie at 23rd overall, at the CIF-Southern Section Finals on Monday at Industry Hills Golf Club. His score was five shots off the lead.

Still, it was enough to qualify him for the CIF-SCGA regional championship, which is scheduled for Tuesday at Brookside Country Club.