Mira Costa Girls Beaten by Gahr in State Volleyball Tournament

A lapse in its previously inspired play has ousted the Mira Costa girls’ volleyball team in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

Host Gahr High, the CIF 4A champion, defeated the 5A champ Mustangs in four sets Saturday night, taking advantage of a squad clearly not prepared to play.

“We didn’t deserve to win,” said Mustang Coach Dae Lea Aldrich, whose team was beaten, 15-6, 8-15, 15-11, 15-7. “They outhustled use, they outdefended us and they just plain outplayed us.”

Said Gahr Coach Sonny Okamoto: ‘When you’re 4A and go against a 5A team, we personally think we have nothing to lose.’

With the victory, Gahr (21-0) moves on to play the winner of the Fremont-Sunnyvale Davis game Tuesday in Northern California. Mira Costa ends its season with a 25-2 record.

Gahr built a big lead in the first set and never let Mira Costa back into contention. Tied 2-2, Gahr ran off six straight points, and that was as close as Mira Costa would get.

In the second set, Mira Costa was still not playing well, yet won, 15-8. The Mustangs led, 9-3 and 13-4, but had trouble putting the Gladiators away.

The teams traded points in the third set until Gahr moved ahead, 11-7. But Mira Costa climbed back to 12-11 before Gahr put the game away.

The fourth set was all Gahr, which took a 1-0 lead and never looked back.