Estancia boys’ volleyball takes first meeting with rival Costa Mesa

No matter the sport being played, the Battle for the Bell has a huge following.

After a hard-fought softball game gave Estancia a 10-point lead in the All-Sports Cup standings as of Monday night, the Costa Mesa high schools renewed their rivalry with the first meeting between their boys’ volleyball teams.

In a spirited match on the west side of town, host Estancia held off Costa Mesa for a 25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory in Tuesday evening’s Orange Coast League contest.

Sophomore opposite Arthur Bishop had a team-high 14 kills for the Eagles (5-14, 2-2 in league). He added three service aces and two total blocks.

“This game is very important because of school rivalries and stuff,” Bishop said. “I’m very confident that we can get the All-Sports Cup.

“This is just another game for league, which obviously leads to CIF. It’s a great win for us.”

Estancia is hoping to make the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The Eagles are currently playing with two key contributors from last year’s team.

The other is senior outside hitter Liam Jason, whom Eagles coach Alejandro De Mendoza referred to as the team’s captain and most consistent player. Jason had 11 kills in the match.

De Mendoza said that the Eagles’ program saw its numbers double this season, but Estancia took a hit when starting setter Bennett Goodman went down due to a finger injury in the season-opening Tesoro Tournament.

Since then, Octavio Valdovinos has been running the offense as the team’s setter.

“He was a [defensive specialist] and a setter on JV last year,” De Mendoza said. “This is his first time setting in a varsity match, running an offense.

“The team has been on his shoulders since the first week. As a setter, you’re always touching the ball. That’s tough to step in and just manage the varsity team right off the bat, but he’s doing great.”

Valdovinos, who had a match-high 39 assists, appreciated the environment of playing in front of full bleachers on his home court.

“It’s a good experience,” he said. “I really like how all the fans support. Because of them, we play better. We communicate and we win because of them.”

Max Perez, Ian Bolter, Keenan Lawrence and Bishop combined for 10 aces in the match.

Costa Mesa (3-4, 1-3) made the Eagles work for every set. The Mustangs rallied to even the match at a set apiece, winning Game 2 by a score of 25-16.

After dropping the first five points of the third set, Costa Mesa came back to win six of the next seven points to get right back in it. A powerful swing from Jason clinched Game 3, allowing Estancia to take a lead into the fourth set.

In Game 4, Estancia opened up with a 22-11 advantage, but the Mustangs made it interesting. Costa Mesa trimmed the deficit to 22-17, but its next two points on serve ended up as service errors.

“We did a great job coming back in the third, and then we stopped going to our big hitter,” Mustangs coach Todd Hanson said. “Tonight, Jonathan [Barton] was our big hitter. We had been riding him for the first two-and-a-half sets, and then all of the sudden, in crunch time of set three, we stopped setting him.”

Barton had a match-high 15 kills to lead the Mustangs. Osman Hefner had eight kills off the bench. Christian Pham had 32 assists and two aces. Ethan Elliott chipped in with three kills and three blocks.

“Osman had some great kills for us tonight,” Hanson said. “He doesn’t normally get set that much. He got some real good opportunities, and he took advantage of it.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner