The Preps / Scott Howard-Cooper : Mira Costa Girls (23-0) Dominate

Jess Money, who covers the high school scene for Volleyball Monthly magazine, is at his hyperbolic best when it comes to the No. 1-ranked girls’ team in the country, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa.

“Teams are going to make forced mistakes against them,” he said. “But if they make unforced mistakes, it is like swimming in a shark tank with a bleeding cut.

“They’re much like the Dallas Cowboys. They will always be good, but some years they are Super Bowl material. No one else has as many quality players and as much fundamental soundness as this group.”

This is one of those years.

Mira Costa (23-0) is so dominating that it is to the point where people are not only wondering if Dae Lea Aldrich’s team can be beaten in a match, but if they will even lose a single game. That hasn’t happened since the Oct. 3 Bay League match with Santa Monica, which puts the sweep streak at 14 heading into tonight’s meeting with Mountain View of the Central Coast Section in the semifinals of the state Division I playoffs.

The Mustangs have lost only two games all season, the one to Santa Monica and the other to Palisades in the first match of the season. Mira Costa and Palisades played again Saturday in the quarterfinals, with Mira Costa winning, 15-7, 15-4, 15-6.

Aldrich has won three Southern Section titles, a state championship and the mythical national championship from Volleyball Monthly twice in her three previous years at Mira Costa, but this team appears to be even better than those great teams. This team may be better than the Cowboys in a Super Bowl season.

The sweep streak is intact off the court, too. Megan McCallister, Lisa Arce, Jill Horning, Melissa McNally and Holly McPeak were all named first-team All-Bay League, and the sixth and final starter, senior setter Lindsey Hahn, was chosen most valuable player in the league and Southern Section.

McCallister, one of the top juniors in the country, and McNally, the team captain who also played on the 1983 club that finished second in California, were also first-team All-Southern Section picks. Arce, McPeak, McCallister and the top reserve, Karrie Trieschman, are just juniors.

The group seems to have as much confidence as talent. Said Aldrich: “They don’t think anybody can beat them.”

Only two more teams will have the chance. One is Mountain View (23-6) tonight at 7:30 at Aviation High in Redondo Beach.

Barring a major upset, the Mustangs will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Southern Section 5-A runner-up Newport Harbor of Newport Beach (19-1) and Los Altos (27-0) from Northern California. Los Altos is the No. 2 team in the nation, so it is possible that the state final Saturday at Golden West College will also be for the national championship.

Such success has not gone unoticed in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, the very area that Aldrich grew up in before going on to play at El Camino College and Cal State Long Beach.

“It’s amazing how many parents have come out to see us play,” she said. “And I’ve had kids on my teams three and four years ago, and they still come out. It’s the talk of the beach community. It makes it so much fun the way the people get behind it.

“I’ve had a coach’s dream. I think I’m envied by a lot of other coaches because of what I have at Mira Costa. I’m not flaunting it, just realizing how special the program is.”

The December issue of Volleyball Monthly has Newport Harbor ranked No. 8 in the country, Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World No. 9, Marlbrough No. 10, Ojai Nordhoff No. 11, Santa Monica No. 17 and Laguna Beach No. 18, with Fountain Valley and Torrance receiving honorable mention. Those figure to be adjusted a little in the final ratings in January, if only because Nordhoff defeated Rim of the World in five games in the Division II semifinals Saturday.

Southern California will also produce its usual share of top college players. As with other sports, there is little disagreement among area college coaches on the top seniors--Tara Cross and Cinnamon Williams of Southern California Christian in Anaheim, Tanya Williams and Michelle Kresbach of Lakewood St. Joseph, Jackie Cook of Fountain Valley, Laura Asper of Newport Harbor, Daiva Tomkus of Canoga Park Chaminade, Tiffany Rochelle of Santa Monica, Yleana Carrasco of Anaheim, who is also one of the country’s top prep high jumpers, and Carrie House of Notre Dame Academy.

McCallister and Keba Phipps of Long Beach Jordan head a good junior class locally, which also includes Jill Johnson of Cerritos Gahr and Missy Kurt of Notre Dame Academy.

Most people knew that Friday night’s football rematch between Hart and Santa Barbara would be a real battle, but nobody expected that kind of battle.

Moments after Hart had beaten Santa Barbara, 24-17, in the Coastal Conference quarterfinals, avenging a regular-season loss, players coaches and fans from both sides went at it in a five-minute fight that stretched half the length of the muddy field at College of the Canyons.

The combatants were finally separated by members of the sheriff’s department.

Hart Coach Rick Scott told The Times’ Mike Hiserman that he was attacked during the brawl and kicked in the face by a Santa Barbara player.

Santa Barbara Coach Lito Garcia said that Scott punched Santa Barbara players, which Scott denied.

“The coaching staffs should have been able to control their players,” Scott said. “It should have been a one-minute scuffle. But there were some crazy people down there. I don’t know who’s side some of them were on. On the films, it looked like they were swinging at whoever was close. I saw one person slam another person on the head with a Thermos.”

Prep Notes Weather permitting, the City girls’ tennis finals will be played today at The Racquet Centre in North Hollywood beginning at 1 p.m. Defending champion Palisades will play Grant in the 4-A Division, and Gardena, the 1984 winner, will play Hamilton in the 3-A. In the event of a rainout, the competition will be held Thursday. . . . Running back J.J. Flannigan of Pomona has been selected Pacific Regional football player of the year by Gatorade, making him one of the eight finalists for the national award. . . . The Kinney Western Regionals for cross-country runners will be held Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The national meet will be Dec. 14. . . . Hamilton will play Palisades Wednesday at the Sports Arena before the Clippers’ game against the Sacramento Kings, one of nine times this season that the NBA team will offer a City basketball game before its own. The junior varsity game will begin at 3 and the varsity at 4:30. Taft will play North Hollywood Saturday.