Mater Dei Struggles, but Moves Into Final

Mater Dei volleyball Coach Tom Costanzo will proudly wear the school’s initials emblazoned on his chest at Saturday’s Southern Section Division II finals, thanks to his team’s 15-4, 10-15, 15-9, 16-14 victory over Woodbridge in a semifinal match Wednesday night at Santa Margarita.

Unfortunately for Costanzo, shaving the letters MD on his chest is part of the deal he made with another coach on campus.

However, the weeks of razor stubble and itching will be worth it for Costanzo as he watches the Monarchs take on Cerritos Gahr in Mater Dei’s first boys’ volleyball section final. Previously, Mater Dei had never gone past the quarterfinals.

“We didn’t think we’d be here,” Costanzo said. “We knew we were strong at the beginning of the season, but then we got hit with a bunch of injuries.”

It wasn’t until recently, after the team started to get healthy, that thoughts of a title came back.

“We started realizing we had shot,” Costanzo said. “We started to play together and play better.”

On Wednesday, the third-seeded Monarchs (12-4) put it all together, and all at the right time.

After taking taking a 2-1 lead in games, Mater Dei struggled out of the gate in Game 4.

Woodbridge jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and the match appeared to be headed to Game 5, when the Warriors built the lead to 14-8. However, Mater Dei slowly battled back, holding off four game points.

Three consecutive unforced errors by Woodbridge and a service ace by Brandt Wicke, closed the gap to 14-11. Then opposite Brian Costanzo and middle blocker Felix Inga took control. Inga picked up two more points for Mater Dei on blocks, while two kills by Costanzo gave the Monarchs side out. With Costanzo serving, 14-14, the Warriors committed two straight errors to end the game.

Woodbridge was led by setter Jason Liljestrom, with 49 assists, 17 digs and 10 blocks.