Redondo Raises Its Level of Contention

From the day he took over the Redondo girls’ volleyball program, Coach Tommy Chaffins set the bar high.

Challenging for a Southern Section championship was openly discussed. Competing for a state title was worth dreaming about.

Winning a Bay League crown and, along the way, defeating Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, well, those may be the toughest tasks of all.

“It’s definitely up there in terms of goals,” senior captain Lauren Kirk said of beating the powerful Mustangs.

In Chaffins’ four years as the girls’ coach, the Sea Hawks have yet to accomplish any of those feats. It hasn’t been for a lack of trying.

Last November, Redondo made only its second appearance in a section championship final and its first in 23 years. This season, the Sea Hawks are ranked No. 1 in the Division II-A coaches’ poll.

Being a title contender can take some getting used to.

“I’m still getting used to people saying, ‘Oh, Redondo’s going to be really good this year,’ ” junior middle blocker Rebecca Saraceno said. “It hasn’t been a natural thing for us to have a name for ourselves. But since last year, we know that we have the potential to win a championship.”

Redondo’s team includes a group of upperclassmen -- Kirk, Saraceno, senior opposite hitter Sarah Stein and senior setter Brittany Pratte -- who have played together since middle school.

Saraceno is 6 feet 1 and a Division I prospect. She had 41 kills in two victories over South Torrance, No. 2 in Division II-A.

“She hasn’t come close to reaching her potential,” Mira Costa Coach DaeLea Aldrich said.

Chaffins, who has coached the Redondo boys’ team for 10 years, made immediate changes after adding the girls’ program to his job duties. He hired a strength and conditioning coach and instituted twice-daily preseason practices.

Knowing he had a talented group of freshmen, he opened every starting position, much to the chagrin of the parents of some returning varsity players.

“It wasn’t popular,” he said, “but it was the right thing to do.”

He also improved the Sea Hawks’ schedule, arranging nonleague games against some of the Southland’s best.

They lost 15 games on the way to the section finals last season, then lost the title in four games to Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Heading into today’s Bay League game at West Torrance, Redondo is 15-7, including victories over Santa Margarita, No. 1 in Division III-AA, and Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula, and two victories over South Torrance, No. 2 in Division II-A.

The Sea Hawks have lost to Los Alamitos, No. 1 in Division I-AA; Mira Costa, No. 1 in Division I-A; Mater Dei, No. 1 in Division II-AA; Torrance Bishop Montgomery, No. 2 in Division III-A; Carlsbad La Costa Canyon; and Bountiful (Utah) Viewmont.

Redondo played in the prestigious Las Vegas Durango tournament earlier this season and finished sixth.

“I don’t really care what our record is,” Chaffins said. “I’d rather take some losses against the best teams. I concern myself with making our program the best it can be.”

Kirk appreciates her coach’s style and said he was relentlessly upbeat.

“He makes people want to play their best for him,” said the outside hitter, who is headed to Loyola Marymount.

Mira Costa’s Aldrich said her coaching rival deserves credit.

“He motivates well and he has a lot of passion for volleyball,” she said. “His community loves him and his players love him, and that speaks for itself.”

Mira Costa remains the litmus test. The schools, located three miles apart, are longtime neighborhood rivals. But the Sea Hawks are in the shadow of the Mustangs, who have 12 Southern Section titles and three state championships.

Buoyed by the fact Mira Costa lost to South Torrance on Oct. 5, suffering its first league loss since 1984, the Sea Hawks thought they could end the Mustangs’ run of 20 consecutive league titles. But the teams’ first matchup on Oct. 19 was business as usual, with Mira Costa rolling to a 25-20, 25-15, 25-11 victory.

The teams, each 6-1 in league play, meet again in a regular-season finale Nov. 5 at Mira Costa.

“We all know that we have the talent and the strength to compete with them,” Saraceno said. Chaffins and his players have worked hard at making that possible.

“In my first year, the talent disparity between the two programs was so large that winning the match was not a consideration,” he said. “What is nice is that in the last few years, I did feel like we had a chance to win.

“Is it over 50%? No. But at least there’s that chance.”