Boys’ volleyball: Mira Costa heads to finals to play Newport Harbor

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It’s over and it was almost too simple.

Mira Costa coasted in a three-game sweep of Loyola in the Southern Section-Toyota Division I semifinals tonight in the raucous Redondo High gymnasium and will play Newport Harbor at Cal State Dominguez on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the championship.

All night long, Mira Costa’s Dylan Kordic showcased his arsenal of kills -- laser smashes, soft touches, needle-threading lobs. He finished with 18 kills, ending Games One and Two with vicious spikes.

‘If you got a horse, you go to your horse,’ said Mike Cook, who’s in his 29th year as coach of the Mustangs.

Cook’s horse was the Stanford-bound Kordic, who also added three digs and one block. ‘We have a second chance to get it right,’ Kordic said, referring to last year’s division final loss to Esperanza in five games.

Brendan Ray, meanwhile, had 31 assists and Will Thomas chipped in seven digs for the Mustangs (31-5), who won the final game, 25-21 after winning Game One, 25-18, and Game Two, 25-20.

UCLA-bound Brian Scilacci had 10 kills to lead Loyola (25-4). ‘Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong,’ Loyola Coach Michael Boehle said. ‘But we fought hard all game long.’

Just not hard enough.

-- Anthony Stitt