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Mira Costa won the Southern Section Division 1 girls' beach volleyball title by sweeping JSerra 5-0. Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva clinched the championship with a comeback victory in the deciding match.
Mira Costa's Ruby Cochrane (facing) tries to block a tip attempt by JSerra's Emma Champagne in the Southern Section Division 1 girls' beach volleyball final. Cochrane and partner Olga Nikolaeva won, 21-19, 17-21, 15-13. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva epitomized the mindset Mira Costa brought to Saturday afternoonâs Southern Section Division 1 girls' beach volleyball championship match at Long Beach City College.
Trailing 13-9 in the deciding third set of their match against JSerraâs top duo of Sara Moynihan and Emma Champagne, the Stanford-bound seniors rallied to win the last six points and complete the Mustangsâ 5-0 sweep to reclaim the title they lost 3-2 to league rival Redondo Union last spring.
âWe wanted to end our senior year with a bang and not be the only pair to lose,â Cochrane said.
Upon receiving the championship plaque, players formed a circle and took turns kissing it as they passed it around.
Mira Costa captured its third title in four tries since the CIF sanctioned the sport in 2023 and when you add the eight Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League titles the Mustangs won prior to that they deserve to be called queens of the beach.
Our coach was like, 'youâre capable of coming back,â so we had to do it,â Nikolaeva added. âRuby is one of my best friends and we have a great bond.â
The Mustangsâ other four tandems each won in straight sets â Allyn Hilt and Lily Sprague at No. 2; Lily Vandeweghe and Lucy Matuszak at No. 3; Sofia Sala and Samantha Nammack at No. 4 and Lily Enfield and Lerin Rosenthal at the No. 5 spot.
Mira Costa (24-1) is 75-3 in four seasons of CIF Southern Section competition, including 67-0 against every team other than Redondo Union, against which it holds an 8-3 advantage. The Mustangs improved to 5-0 against the Lions (17-3), who upset Redondo Union in the semifinals.
The Mustangs have won 14 of 15 sets in their three Division 1 finals victories.
Bishop Montgomery, making its first finals appearance, prevailed 3-2 over Edison thanks to the heroics of sophomore twins Hailey and Alyssa Waters, who clinched the championship with a 13-21, 21-17, 15-12 victory over the Chargersâ tandem of Sydney Kershaw and Emery Oakes.
Mira Costa defeated JSerra with a final score of 5-0 in the championship match.
Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva were the key players for Mira Costa, winning their match 21-19, 17-21, 15-13.
Mira Costa's victory allowed them to reclaim the title they lost to Redondo Union the previous spring.
The final was held at Long Beach City College.
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âBeing twins causes fighting but weâve always played together and our connection makes us stronger,â Alyssa said.
âBefore that last set we took a minute to talk to each other,â Hailey added. âWe knew what we were doing.â
The Knightsâ No. 1 duo of sisters Stacy and Stephanie Balestrieri and the No. 4 duo of Kendall McKechnie and Carli Duda both won in straight sets.
Freshmen Hannah Martin and Lucy Morris earned the decisive point with a 21-16, 22-20 win on Court 5 in Long Beach Millikanâs 4-1 triumph over Windward.
âWe didnât know the score or what was going on in the other matches,â Martin said. â:Lucy and I were just focusing on ours. Weâre really close friends but this is our first time playing together in CIF. We both play indoor too but in beach you have to have more trust because itâs only two of you."
Madison Jones and Johanna Swerdloff won 21-17, 16-21, 15-8 at No. 2, Bella Bonales and Estale Lopez won 21-15, 21-18 at No. 3 and Olivia Vits and Samantha Guman won 21-12, 21-15 at No. 4 for the Rams (14-7), who lost to Long Beach Wilson in the Division 2 final last year.
Millikan is the third Moore League school to win a Southern Section title in the brief history of the sport, joining Wilson and Long Beach Poly, who won Divisions 2 and 3 last year. The Bay League is only other with multiple champions (Mira Costa and Redondo Union).
In the first finals appearance for both programs, Oak Park swept the last four courts to claim the inaugural Division 4 crown against Campbell Hall, a Division 3 semifinalist last season. Seniors Athena Trewyn and Kaela Raquel won 19-21, 21-19, 15-12 on Court 3 to notch the clinching point for the Eagles (11-5).
âWeâve never made it past the quarterfinals and we didnât even make the playoffs last year,â said second-year coach Josh Giron, whose team practices at North Ranch Playfield in Thousand Oaks, a 30-minute drive from campus. âWe have one court for 20 girls and sometimes we have to cancel practice because another teamâs using it."
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.