This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Mochalski and Olsen Carry Mira Costa Volleyball Victory

Top-ranked Mustangs, sharpening for CIF playoff run, take down Palos Verdes in final Bay League match.

It was a hitting clinic on Thursday afternoon for Mira Costa High seniors Eric Mochalski and Jace Olsen, the duo leading the Mustangs to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Palos Verdes (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) in a Bay League match.

The Stanford-bound Mochalski finished with 12 kills and a very big smile. His Penn State-bound teammate, Olsen, finished the match with 10 kills and three aces. From set one to set three, Mira Costa brought an impressive attack and an even more impressive defense, with a strong block and great support in the backcourt. Palos Verdes, although a strong team, did not have a consistent enough match to battle back.

''They both played really well,'' Coach Mike Ninnis said of Mochalski and Olsen. ''They're both coming on strong here late in the season. We're executing real well. But we've got a number of weapons. It's not just one or two guys out there that we're playing around. We feel comfortable getting the ball to any guy who is on the court.''

Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

During the first set, Mira Costa started out strong, nabbing a quick 20-13 lead. Palos Verdes battled back for two quick points, but setter Michael Beals answered back with a powerful dump. A missed serve by Costa and a string of points for Palos Verdes brought the score to 22-18, but the Sea Kings were unable to sustain the run and made a service error. Mochalski finished out set one with a quick set in the middle past a nonexistent Palos Verdes block.

Beals set up Mochalski on another quick set to start out set two on an impressive note. The Costa crowd got louder and more excited at the start, giving the Mustangs even more momentum. Costa made a three-point run with a huge double block and back-to-back aces from Olsen.

Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A service error and block-out of bounds brought Palos Verdes back in the game, with the score at 7-4. A Palos Verdes hitting error and ace from Mira Costa's Kevin Donohue forced Coach Patrick Lynch to take a time-out.

Palos Verdes came out of the time-out with a quick kill, but Costa was able to pull ahead 18-13 with a kill in the middle of the court, without an effort from the Palos Verdes defense. Costa continued their impressive offense with great setting from Beals, seeing the openings in the block for his front row. Palos Verdes, unable to put together a string of points, fell 25-17 in the second set.

Set three started out very similar to set two, with another dominant kill from Mochalski. Costa made a quick error following but turned around to get the next point, putting them up 2-1. Two consecutive errors from Costa put Palos Verdes up 3-2. A couple of tough rallies and a kill from middle blocker Davis Waddell tied it up 4-4.

Palos Verdes began looking uneasy and uncomfortable against a tough Mustang squad early in set three. Mira Costa took advantage and made a run to 21-14. After Coach Lynch took a quick time out, Palos Verdes was able to finish a tough rally, making it 21-15. Mochalski and his teammates had the offensive answer and rallied off multiple kills to finish out set three, 25-18.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?