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Eagles sweep Mesa

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Estancia High returned to its winning ways against Costa Mesa on the girls’ volleyball court.

After the Mustangs swept the series with the Eagles for the first time in 10 years last season, host Estancia made quick work of Costa Mesa on Tuesday. Estancia swept the first meeting between the archrivals, 25-21, 25-14, 25-17.

The Eagles have begun Orange Coast League play with a 2-0 record, a year after only winning three league matches. In only his second season in charge, Coach Nick Singleton has Estancia off to its best start in league in six years.

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“We had a young team last year, mostly freshmen and a couple of sophomores, and we only had one senior,” Singleton said. “This year, you know, they’re maturing and coming together, which is awesome to see.”

Most of the Estancia team is the same from last season, except for one player, Olivia Toohey. The junior setter made her debut with the Eagles after she sat out the first 30 days because of CIF Southern Section transfer rules.

The former Fairmont Prep player got the Estancia offense going early, distributing the ball to the likes to Finley Garnett, Brandi White, McKenna Covey, Samantha Haynes and Sarah Graham. The first set featured five ties, the last one broken up by a service error by Costa Mesa, giving Estancia 13-12 lead.

Toohey extended the lead with a service ace and the Eagles never relinquished the lead.

Felicia Crenshaw, a Costa Mesa middle blocker, cut the deficit to 21-20, but a shot into the net by a teammate and Garnett capping a long rally with her fourth kill in the first set put the Eagles ahead by two. The Mustangs’ seventh service error left Estancia at set point, and Covey put it away with one of her five kills.

“She’s so amazing,” Covey said of Toohey. “She just brings such a good vibe and brings, like, a big new level of skill.”

Estancia, which is 8-7 overall, has already doubled last year’s win total. Haynes, Covey and Garnett have the Eagles thinking they can compete with perennial league champion Laguna Beach. They travel to Laguna Beach on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup between undefeated league teams.

Garnett, who finished with a dozen kills and three aces, led the way against Costa Mesa, which dropped to 0-2 in league.

“We did not play well,” said Costa Mesa Coach Todd Hanson, whose team placed third in league last year. “We played Laguna really tough [in a three-set loss on the road on last week], served really well, passed pretty well, and they served tremendously, and we didn’t come out with the same intensity [at Estancia]. I don’t know what it is about coming into this gym, but we come in flat.”

The Eagles distanced themselves from Costa Mesa in the second set. With the score even at 6-6, Estancia went on a 15-3 run. Maddy Letterman dropped two of her three aces during the stretch, while Graham stuffed a shot and hammered one down, and Haynes capped it with back-to-back aces.

The Eagles were in a similar situation last year at home against the Mustangs, claiming the first two sets before Costa Mesa rallied for a 19-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-9 win. Estancia closed things out in third set, ensuring it claimed the first of two matches in the Battle for the Bell rivalry.

After Isabella Maniaci’s second kill cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 13-12, Covey recorded three kills and Garnett produced two aces. The Eagles outscored Costa Mesa, 12-5, the rest of the way, setting up Thursday’s showdown at Laguna Beach.

“They always have a strong program,” Singleton said of the Breakers, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA poll. “I am excited to go against a team of that caliber. I know players get really nervous about that, so I’m hoping to push my girls to that level, and you never know, we might be able to take them this season.”

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