SOUTHERN SECTION 4-A VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Van Reusen Speaks Up in Edison’s Defense : Preps: Middle blocker says Chargers will give the top-ranked Mira Costa Mustangs ‘the game of their lives’ in title match.

Karl Van Reusen, one of the more boisterous and outspoken students on the Edison High School campus, will argue any topic with anyone at any time.

Music, politics, the greenhouse effect. You name it. Karl knows it.

Even volleyball.

Van Reusen has first-hand knowledge of this topic, though. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker is one of the main reasons why the Chargers are playing Mira Costa in the Southern Section 4-A championship game at 7:30 Saturday night at Marina High School.

But just how the Chargers will do against Mira Costa is subject to debate. And Van Reusen, who was a member of the Edison debate team for two years, is ready to argue his point.

Statement: There is no way Edison will beat Mira Costa, ranked No. 1 nationally by Volleyball Monthly, on Saturday.

So, what do you think, Karl?

“That’s the kind of position almost everyone is taking on this game,” Van Reusen said. “Player for player, they’re probably stronger than we are, but that means nothing to us.

“The argument I give for us is that they have everything to lose and we have nothing to lose. It might sound like I’m hoping for the best, but I’m certain that we’ll give them the match of their lives.”

The Chargers already have done that.

Mira Costa handed Edison its only loss this season in a five-game, three-hour match at Edison on March 21. Mira Costa rallied from a 12-8 deficit in the final game for a 16-14, 15-10, 12-15, 13-15, 15-12 victory.

“The way I figure it,” Van Reusen said, “Mira Costa was three points better than we were. They beat us, 15-12, in that game and we’ve come a long, long way since then. We’ll be better prepared this time around.

“I was ready to die after that (first) match. But now we’re in great shape. We’ve doubled our training and conditioning.”

Edison (17-1) has won 13 consecutive matches since the Mira Costa loss and is the only team to push the Mustangs past three games this season.

Brian Rofer, Edison’s first-year coach, said the championship match will be one of the few times his team is the underdog.

“People are expecting us to lose,” he said. “We haven’t been in this position since the beginning of year, when Huntington Beach was supposed to beat us.

“My team’s thinking right now is that it’s trying to avenge the five games we lost to Mira Costa. That’s it.”

Van Reusen said he hates the underdog role.

“What gets me the most is that Mira Costa has been ranked No. 1 all year,” he said. “I hate that all year we were overlooked.”

Mira Costa Coach Mike Cook said it’s impossible to overlook Edison.

“It’s going to be a battle royal,” he said of the final. “We were slightly better than them the first time around.

“The only difference between us is that our record is 17-0. We don’t have the one after our record, and we hope we don’t have a one after it on Saturday.”

Cook said the first Edison game was one of the best he has coached in. He led the Mustangs to the 4-A title in 1984 and to the finals in ’87 and ’89.

“It was as exciting a game as you possibly could see,” Cook said of the first meeting. “Both teams charged with emotion and playing hard. It had the aura of a Southern Section final.”

The rematch will be a showcase of the top young volleyball talent in the nation.

Mira Costa’s Pat Ivie, a 6-5 middle blocker, and Mike Ashenfelter, a 6-7 middle blocker, will join Edison setter Aaron Boone at USC next season. Mira Costa setter Canyon Ceman will attend Stanford and Van Reusen has signed with Cal State Long Beach.

Mira Costa’s top player is senior David Swatik, a 6-4 outside hitter who has signed with UCLA. Swatik’s left-handed spikes have made him Volleyball Monthly’s top high school player in the nation.

“He and Aaron are two of the best players in the country right now,” Rofer said. “Obviously, we will have to stop him. But if you key on one of their players someone else will step up for them. Ashenfelter can kill you if he’s on.”

Cook said Swatik “could be the finest spiker I’ve ever had.”

“What makes him so remarkable is that he should only be a junior,” Cook said. “His parents pushed him ahead a year in grade school. He’s only a baby.”

Mira Costa rolled into the finals by sweeping San Marcos in the semifinals while Edison struggled to a five-game victory at Santa Barbara.

“I think having a five-game match was an eye opener for us,” Van Reusen said. “After we lost the first game (to Santa Barbara), I seriously thought we could have lost the match. I think that’s a feeling we need to have.”

Rofer agreed.

“We let leads slip by against Santa Barbara,” Rofer said. “By putting pressure on ourselves like that, it might make us concentrate a little more.”

Van Reusen said the first game could be a key to the match. In their previous meeting, Mira Costa won the first two games before Edison rallied to tie it.

“If we can take away that first game,” Van Reusen said, “we might be able to humiliate them.”

The Chargers certainly know how to antagonize them. Van Reusen and his teammates drew five yellow cards and one red card from officials for finger-pointing, taunts and other theatrics in the win over Santa Barbara.

Cook said his players won’t be intimidated.

“I’m more concerned with our execution,” he said. “I not concerned about what they’re doing. We won’t respond to it.”

Van Reusen, who’s as outspoken on the court as he is off it, said the Chargers will be at their theatrical best on Saturday.

“Mira Costa is a great team and I have all the respect for them in the world,” he said. “We’re friends with all the Mira Costa players because we have played on all the club teams. But our friendship Saturday night is going to be like a coat--we’ll leave it at the door.”