Another Tufuga stars for Mustangs

One member of the Tufuga family made an imprint on the Costa Mesa High volleyball court before graduating after the 2015-16 school year.

It appears as though another family member will keep the legacy alive.

Freshman Malia Tufuga had 12 kills, served four aces and set up her teammates several times to help the Mustangs to a 25-19, 25-11, 22-25, 25-12 victory over Ocean View in a nonleague match played Tuesday at Costa Mesa.

Malia is the younger sister of Mason Tufuga, who starred for the Mustangs and earned a scholarship to play volleyball at Stanford.

“They’re a great volleyball family,” Costa Mesa Coach Todd Hanson said. “I’ve known them for years.”

Hanson was also pleased with the tenacity of junior Felicia Crenshaw, who had 10 kills and served six aces.

“Felicia was a monster for us in the middle,” Hanson said.

Junior Courtney Moore, an experienced club player, who joined the Mustangs (2-2) less than a week ago, served four aces and had eight kills, playing in three of the four sets.

“She jumped out in the second set and we got her some really good sets,” Hanson said. “I’m really pleased with her continuity considering she hasn’t been here [long].”

The score was 12-12 in the first set before the Mustangs broke away from the Seahawks (1-1) with a 13-7 run.

A block and an ace by Crenshaw and three kills by Moore helped the Mustangs take a 10-2 lead and ultimately a 14-point victory in the second set.

But Ocean View fought back.

Kills by Haley Mezzano and Lauren Reynolds helped the Seahawks build a 5-1 lead in the third set.

The Mustangs came back to tie the score but Ieva Vaiciunas’ kill and Mezzano’s ace keyed a 10-6 run for the Seahawks who went on to win a close set.

“Everything was just clicking in that second set and so in the third set, [the Seahawks] came out fired up and they caught us on our heels,” Hanson said. “They closed it out on us because we dug ourselves a little too big of a deficit.”

The Mustangs took the momentum right back with a 7-0 run to open the fourth set.

Mezzano’s two aces and a kill from Penelope Russ got the Seahawks back into the set.

Crenshaw then held serve for a 5-0 run to give the Mustangs a 14-4 lead.

Later in the match, Ayauna Taylor held serve for another 5-0 run to put the set out of reach and virtually seal the match for the Mustangs.