Mustangs Pound Sea Hawks in Volleyball

When Redondo Union High School demolished its old gymnasium last fall, the Sea Hawks had hoped that all the bad memories of defeat to Mira Costa in boys volleyball went with it. Unfortunately for the Sea Hawks, new building equals same result as the Mustangs thoroughly dismantled their cross-town rival Thursday night at the newly christened Sea Hawk Pavilion, sweeping the match in three games, 25-16, 25-17, and 25-18, in the first match of Bay League play.

Junior middle blocker Ryan Kaseff led a balanced Mustang attack with 10 kills, three blocks and several awe-inspiring spikes. 

"Their size really hurt us," said Redondo assistant coach Austin Zahn, who played for the Sea Hawks and was on the winning team at last summer's Charlie Saikley Six-Man Volleyball Tournament. "We had no answer for Kaseff, he was pretty dominate. The scary part is that they were missing their best player."

The Mustangs have been without the services of their star outside hitter Chris Orenic, who has been sidelined with a wrist injury. Orenic has a scholarship to play at USC next season. 

"It's unfortunate for Chris because he has worked so hard for his senior season," said Mira Costa head coach Mike Ninnis. "But I think it will help our team down the road because it will give them the experience needed for a deep playoff run."

The well-rounded Mustangs (7-2) got some key contributions from several players, including senior middle blocker Karl Acres (six kills, six blocks), senior middle blocker Keith Waddell (seven kills, six digs), junior hitter Riley Mallon (nine kills, two blocks), setter Jackson Carr (31 assists, five digs), and libero Brooks Varni (eight digs). 

"This was a great start but we still have a ton of work to do," Ninnis said. "We play well in spurts but tend to have some mental lapses at times that will hurt us later in the season if we don't correct that, but give Redondo credit because they kept fighting the entire match."