Schools
Mira Costa Takes CIF Regional Title
One week after beating rival Loyola for the CIF Division I title, the boys volleyball squad wins the CIF Division II Regional championship. Will they end up being the No. 1 nationwide ranked team in the ESPN Powerade Fab 50 poll?
The Mira Costa boys volleyball team took down Oak Park High, 24-26. 25-16, 25-19, 24-26, 20-18, to win the CIF Southern Section Division II Regional championship Saturday night in Irvine.
The win came one week after the Mustangs beat rival Loyola High, 25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 21-25, 15-12, for the first time this season to take the CIF Southern Section Division I crown.
- Previously: (May 19, 2012)
After their Division I match, Mira Costa and Loyola were placed in different brackets for the regional playoffs. According to Mira Costa coach Mike Ninnis, the regional playoff divisions are determined by the size of the school, and Mira Costa's population is just short of the Division I cutoff for this year.
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After the team's superb play against Loyola last Saturday, Ninnis said, “Winning CIF was our goal all along. State is gravy.”
The Mustangs got the gravy.
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Even so, the team will look forward to seeing if they become the No. 1 ranked team nationwide in ESPN's Powerade Fab 50 poll. Loyola had held the No. 1 spot since the poll began in March... that was, until the Mustangs beat them last week.
That win pushed the Mustangs from No. 3 into the No. 2 spot and moved unbeaten Wheaton Warrenville South (36-0) of Wheaton, Ill. from No. 2 to the No. 1 spot.
Wheaton Warrenville South will play next weekend in the Illinois state finals. After that, it will be interesting to see who holds the No. 1 nationwide spot at the end of the teams' respective seasons.
“There is absolutely no comparison between us and the team in Illinois,” Ninnis told the Easy Reader after his team beat Oak Park. “Quite honestly, if you really want to be considered for the number one team in the nation, you have to come out to California and play the best teams in the nation. Punahou (Hawaii) does that, coming over here every other year to play in the Best of the West tournament. In the last couple of weeks we’ve played Dana Hills, Esperanza, Loyola and Oak Park, which is firing on all cylinders. We play a tough competition out here. We went to Hawaii and faced Punahou and Hawaii Baptist and it’s a playoff atmosphere there.”
Mira Costa was ranked No. 6 when the poll began and has steadily climbed it during their season.
- Previously: (March 19, 2012)
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