Motivated by the rivalry’s tradition, Loyola High downs Mira Costa in volleyball

Two hours before Loyola High was scheduled to hit the court Saturday against No. 1-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, coach Michael Boehle gathered his No. 2-ranked volleyball team around a DVD player.

On that DVD was the pregame show from a 2006 Prime Ticket stream of a Mira Costa-Loyola matchup. It painted the picture of a longstanding rivalry between the teams — on par, in the Southern California volleyball world, with Duke-North Carolina or Michigan-Ohio State.

This was private school, Loyola, versus public school, Mira Costa. This was bragging rights in the South Bay, since many from both teams live in the same area. Players, Boehle said, were “amazed.”

“They want to call it another volleyball match. I understand that, but there’s more at stake here,” Boehle said. “If Loyola’s victorious, it’s a chance for them to put on their jersey and walk proudly down Manhattan Beach Boulevard, and if [Mira] Costa does it, they get to do the same.”

Time for Loyola — at least for a week — to don those jerseys and get walking. In their latest matchup, the Cubs took home a 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-15 victory at Loyola, erasing the sting of a 3-1 loss the last time the teams met in March 2019.

Only a crowd of about 100, a mix of Loyola and Mira Costa parents and relatives, was present. Normally, a match of this magnitude might draw a few thousand, according to Loyola athletic director Chris O’Donnell. But regardless, this match ignited a certain fuel in players on both sides, many of whom compete together in club volleyball, a season that ran from September to February.

“We’re friends with all those guys,” said Dillon Klein, a standout Loyola outside hitter. “It’s always fun to give them a little beatdown.”

Saturday, however, certainly didn’t start as a Loyola romp. After a back-and-forth beginning, Mira Costa went on a 12-5 run to take a 19-12 lead in the initial set, eventually earning the final point 25-21 on a kill from senior Ben Coordt.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, consistently mounting a stout block against Loyola’s attacks. On the sidelines, Boehle dipped his head and ran his hand through his hair.

“It’s the rivalry, right … I think it just took a little while to settle down,” he said.

Yet Klein’s 36-inch vertical leap, along with kills from juniors Ryan Vena and Owen Loncar, put enough pressure on Mira Costa to chip away at the lead. Eventually, a kill from senior outside hitter Cooper Robinson sealed a Loyola run to clinch the second set, 25-23.

Boehle said the pandemic has made collecting film on other teams difficult — going into games “blind.”

“We’re learning as we’re playing. We didn’t know anything going into that [first] set,” Klein said. “We made a couple adjustments here and there.”

The biggest of those adjustments came midway through the third set — a swap of the positioning of outside hitters Klein and Robinson.

“We weren’t touching Ben Coordt,” Boehle said. “So I took Dillon and switched him with Cooper, and we did a really good job of adjusting to that and we started to slow Ben down a little bit.”

Sean Kelly, the only freshman across either roster, knocked home the winning kill in the left corner to clinch the fourth set and the win for Loyola.

Kelly, who’d seen Mira Costa’s 2019 win over Loyola in person, was mobbed by teammates.

“That was definitely a surreal feeling,” Kelly said, beaming from ear to ear. “I’ve been thinking about this game for like three years, ever since I saw it in sixth grade. This is exactly where I’ve wanted to be.”

Once he’s eligible to be recruited by colleges, Kelly will “be on everybody’s list,” Boehle said. All in all, the game served as quite the showcase of talent. For Loyola, Robinson will be headed to UCLA, Loncar to UC Santa Barbara and Klein and senior Teddy Terrill to USC; Mira Costa has six players currently committed, including Coordt and senior Max Gordon to UCSB.

The teams will meet again May 1, this time at Mira Costa’s shiny new gym. Mira Costa coach Avery Drost is excited at the chance for redemption.

“I think it was one of those days where we weren’t getting aced, but we were just passing the ball just OK and not good enough,” Drost said. “I think our team is a lot better than what we showed, and I’m just really glad we get to play twice.”

The next match could be a different story, Boehle said. It’s tough to win back-to-back. But the victory is nonetheless exciting.

“This week, we get to hold the banner,” he said.