Redondo, Costa to Face Off in Volleyball

Redondo and Mira Costa high schools clash next week in what surely will impact the outcome of the league championship in girls volleyball.

The match is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Costa.

As of now, Redondo coach Tommy Chaffins is feeling better than he was last weekend after his Redondo girls volleyball team won their second straight contest Thursday, beating host Palos Verdes, 25-23, 25-10, 25-18.

Skylar Dykstra played well again, finishing with 15 kills and 10 digs, with Brianna Lanktree adding six kills and two blocks. Tiffany Morales led Redondo with 17 digs.

But it was the clutch play and serving down the stretch of junior setter Olivia Bustamante, who served winners for the match’s final four points, that finished it for Redondo (8-6, 2-0).

The victory over Palos Verdes comes on the heels of Tuesday’s sweep of Peninsula, 25-15, 25-19, 25-23, in the Bay League opener at Redondo. Morales was the hero in that win, serving for six consecutive points to close out the match.

Freshman Abril Bustmante led the way with eight kills. Devon Bogart finished with seven, while Dykstra added five and five digs.

Last Saturday, Chaffins was ticked because he believed his Sea Hawks mentally "checked out" in a disappointing sweep by South Torrance in the Kim Blankinship Torrance Challenge at Torrance High.

Redondo had a chance to close out the second game in the match, leading 24-21, but couldn’t finish it. Instead, South won the match 27-25 and it seriously deflated Redondo. Chaffins, though, wasn’t having any of that.

"When we didn’t close it out and lost, I was very disappointed that our team checked out and didn’t respond in the last game," he said. "Our mantra is: next play, focus. We didn’t do that."

For Mira Costa, the team stayed unbeaten in league with Thursday’s sweep of West Torrance, 25-13, 25-14, 25-19, behind the play of Grayce Campbell, who finished with eight kills and four digs. Gabi Rosenfeld recorded three blocks.