Royal Scores Clean Sweep of Mira Costa

Although Royal High dismantled defending Southern Section Division I Mira Costa in a nonleague boys’ volleyball match Thursday night, there wasn’t a torch-passing ceremony after it ended.

Instead, a piece of paper was passed from Mira Costa Coach Mike Cook to Royal’s Bob Ferguson.

Written on it could have been words of praise from Cook, whose team was defeated by the host Highlanders, 15-6, 15-12, 15-9.

Or, more likely, Cook could have acknowledged how his team was out-blocked by Royal, 16-7.

Instead, Cook wrote in pencil what the next Division I poll will look like.

Just like that, Royal (7-0) will jump from No. 5 to No. 2, the highest it has ever been in Division I.

“I think they’re a bona fide contender for the [Division I] title,” said Cook, who is in his 18th year at Mira Costa and has the last word when it comes to the poll. “Maybe we can learn from them.”

The Highlanders were effective in nearly every category, from blocking to attacking to digging and defending the back row.

Opposite hitter Nick Flanagan continued to impress despite having missed several weeks while playing basketball, finishing with 16 kills and seven blocks.

“Flan-man keeps on coming from out of nowhere,” Ferguson said.

Royal middle blocker Ryan Denihan, who was being scouted by a USC assistant coach, had a solid match as well, with 10 kills and five blocks.

The Highlanders took leads of 6-1 in the first game, 3-1 in the second and 6-0 in the third, and never trailed by more than two points to the Mustangs (6-2), who were ranked fourth but dropped to fifth in their coach’s impromptu post-match prognosis.

Royal lost to Mira Costa in each of the past two years--winning only one game in the process--but a flicker of hope emerged during club season when a team comprised of Highlanders twice defeated a team of Mira Costa players.

Still, Royal didn’t officially beat Mira Costa until Thursday.

“It’s so sweet to be able to beat them,” Denihan said. “It’s been such an obstacle the past few years.”

Mira Costa lost all six starters from last season, including Adam Naeve, who starts at UCLA, and Kevin Collins, who plays for UC Santa Barbara.

Jeremy Koop, who has accepted a scholarship to UC Irvine, finished with 18 kills but he had 12 errors, eight of them in the third game when Royal’s blocking peaked.

Mira Costa middle blocker Matt Boice, the only other returning letter-winner from last season, had four kills and five errors.

“Our goal is to shut down everybody,” Denihan said. “The only thing better than this is if we win the Redondo tournament and then [Division I].”