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Sports

Mustangs Sweeping Their Way Into CIF Playoffs

There is a lot to celebrate on senior night, as No. 1 Mira Costa breezes past Santa Barbara in its final regular season volleyball match.

As the regular season came to an end for the Mira Costa High boys volleyball team on Friday night, there were multiple reasons to celebrate. First, it was senior night, and with the Mustangs' all-star cast, there was a lot to cheer about.

"It's not only their contributions they make here, but it's all four years they are in the program," Coach Mike Ninnis said. "It's their work in the fall, doing pool training. They play club all four years and a number of years before that. They're dedicated kids and we are proud of them."

Second, they swept a good Santa Barbara team, but not before Ninnis threw a curveball by starting all of his subs in the third set.

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It was not only an opportunity for different players to see the court, but it was also somewhat of a symbolic changing of the tides, as many of the seniors watched the younger guys step into their roles for the coming year.

"It was a nice way a nice way to finish the year,'' Ninnis said. ''Traditionally we play Santa Barbara in this match because it's a nice warm up for CIF. I think it's good for both schools."

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Mira Costa got out to what Ninnis called "a little bit slow." Santa Barbara was able to string some solid plays together throughout the first set, staying within a few points up until Costa made a run for a 17-12 lead. A quick Santa Barbara timeout was not enough to change momentum and the strong presence of senior Eric Mochalski helped Costa pull out a 25-18 win.

It was evident in the second set that Santa Barbara did not have an answer for the Mustangs' strong offense or defense. With setter Michael Beals spreading out his offense, Costa had four different hitters with kills in the first seven points. As Costa ran up a score of 12-6, Santa Barbara called their first timeout of the set.

Right out of the break, a double block by Mochalski and senior Jace Olsen started a run of points, forcing a few tough errors by Santa Barbara. Costa led 21-12 before another Santa Barbara time out. It worked in the Dons favor this time, as Costa made a serving error, but Santa Barbara returned the favor with its own serving error. Costa finished out set two 25-17 on another serving error.

Set three was pretty rough for Mira Costa. Coach Ninnis made the choice to give his starters a rest and provide a special opportunity for the rest of the team. Santa Barbara took advantage of this early on, getting a 4-2 lead and remained ahead until Costa was able to tie it up 8-8.

John Hausle, Bryce Miller and Kyle Burgoyne played huge roles in the third set creating a strong offense with big plays at crucial points. Mira Costa was able to get up 23-19 after a string of errors by Santa Barbara and it was a solo block and kill to follow that finished the third set, 25-19.

Mira Costa is looking forward to finding out the brackets for CIF playoffs, which will be released on Sunday morning. The Mustangs, No. 1 in the state, will most likely be the No. 1 seed and a home game for their first match.

"They're focused, they've got a goal, they're hungry,'' Ninnis said. ''Certainly we are physical enough to go all the way and that's the plan."

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