Girls’ Volleyball: South Bay schools strut their stuff

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Can anyone beat Mira Costa? Um, no, apparently not.

Senior outside hitter Lane Carico had 14 kills and 23 digs to lead the Mustangs past Archbishop Mitty in a final match for the second time in three weeks, this time winning, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25, to win the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions title for the second year in a row Saturday night at Santa Barbara.

The teams also met in the Torrey Pines California Challenge title match on Oct. 13.

Carico, who has committed to Miami, was named the tournament MVP. Sophomore right-side hitter Falyn Fonoimoana and senior libero Lauren Law also were selected to the all-tournament team. Fonoimoana had 11 kills, 10 digs and two blocks against Mitty. Law finished with 16 digs and a service ace.

‘We just played a lot of great defense,’ Mira Costa Coach Lisa Zimmerman said. ‘Mitty played a great match, we were able to make a lot of adjustments, and played really well.’

The Mustangs (25-0) are ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps.com and No. 1 in the country by PrepVolleyball.com.

In the other major tournament of the weekend, Redondo won four matches, including one over Santa Margarita, 25-14, 25-20, to win the championship of the Redondo Power Classic for the third time in four years.

It was the third year in a row that Redondo and Santa Margarita met in the tournament final, the Sea Hawks winning in 2005 and Santa Margarita in 2006. Redondo also defeated El Dorado for the 2004 title.

This time, Redondo won behind the play of senior setter Lauren Allen and senior outside hitter Megan Saraceno, who shared tournament co-MVP honors.

- Lauren Peterson

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