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Schools

Lady Mustangs Win 1st Playoff Game

Mira Costa High's Bay League champion team conquers Long Beach Millikan in three matches. Team travels to Orange Lutheran High for next CIF playoff contest Thursday.

Skilled, precise passing lifted the Mira Costa girls volleyball team over Long Beach Millikan, 25-13, 25-12, 25-9, at home in the first round of CIF Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs Tuesday.

Junior Lexi Millington had four kills along with four aces and was serving when Mira Costa made runs of seven straight points in game one and 13 straight points in game three that propelled the Mustangs to victory.

“This was a good start for us,” Millington said. “I think that we wanted to come in after the Redondo game and show that we are a good team. I think tonight was a step in the right direction.”

Fresh off that bitter loss to cross-town rival Redondo last Thursday in which the Mustangs held a 2-0 game lead before losing in five games, Mira Costa shook off the pain of that defeat with a workman-like performance against the Rams.

“I told the girls that we were the Bay League Champions not Redondo,” Mira Costa Coach Lisa Arce-Zimmerman said. “This is the start of our real season and this is where we want to be successful.”

Trailing 6-5 in the third game, the Mustangs (20-11) scored the next 13 points behind the serve of Millington and the inspired play of junior Kelsey McIntire to close the door on the Rams' hopes. Setter Corie Bain contributed a game-high 25 assists and was the vocal leader of the Mustang attack.

“We were pumped up tonight,” McIntire said of her team’s performance. “It’s nice to get a good crowd at home and play in front of all your friends. We are on a mission to make it to the CIF finals.”

Maddy Klineman was once again the leader in kills for the Mustangs with a game-high nine kills. Klineman was involved in the most intriguing match-up of the night when the six-foot-two inch senior, who will be playing volleyball at UCLA next season, went up against six-foot-five inch Long Beach Millikan sophomore Sherridan Atkinson, but Atkinson’s imposing size was not enough to stop the multi-talented Klineman.

“She is very big and a lot better than what I thought she was,” Arce-Zimmerman said of Atkinson. “Maddy is a much more well-rounded player at this moment but she (Atkinson) is going to be very, very good in a couple of years.”

The Mustangs, the No. 4 seed, advance to play at Orange Lutheran (13-14) on Thursday. Orange Lutheran finished third in the very tough Trinity League behind Mater Dei and Santa Margarita. The Lancers defeated a highly ranked Mater Dei squad and went five games before losing to Redondo earlier this season.

Huntington Beach Edison, the No. 1 seed, is in the same bracket as the Mustangs and are a potential semi-final match-up.

“Every match from now on is going to be tough,” said Arce-Zimmerman. “We are looking to play four more matches to get into the finals but are taking each match one at a time.”

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