Girls’ Volleyball: Mesa rallies to win against Estancia

The Estancia High girls’ volleyball team had been waiting for an effort like this.

But so, too, had visiting Costa Mesa.

The Mustangs somehow escaped with a win Thursday night in the Eagles’ gym. They picked a great time to execute their first comeback from two sets down this season.

Senior middle blocker Stephanie Willett played big down the stretch as Mesa won the Orange Coast League match, 19-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-23, 15-9, sweeping the two Battle for the Bell matches this year.

Prior to this year, Estancia had won 20 straight against its cross-town rival, but times have changed.

“I’m very proud of my girls,” second-year Costa Mesa Coach Todd Hanson said. “They showed tonight that they won’t give up on me, they won’t give up on each other. That’s something we’ve lacked. Last year, I was new to the program, they were new to me, so there was a lot of doubt and questions. This year, they don’t give up.”

As importantly, Costa Mesa (9-10, 4-3 in league) took over outright third place in league with three matches left, as Godinez (3-4 in league) lost to Calvary Chapel on Thursday. The top three teams in league are guaranteed CIF playoff berths.

Last year, the Mustangs finished a long way from the playoffs, at last place in league. But they are now a senior-dominated team that proved it could hang in there against Estancia (2-13, 1-6).

Willett had a team-high 15 kills, junior Haylee Jack had 10 and senior Lisa Perlin added seven. Senior Karina Cruz had 23 digs, sophomore Brenna Alvis added 21 and senior Kirsten Gyorgi had 19.

Sophomore setter Kintak Keju dished out 35 assists for the Mustangs, who had to outlast the Eagles. Estancia came out red-hot at the start.

The Eagles rode their only senior, captain Eliza Jason, who finished with a team-best 14 kills and 15 digs.

“This is the best we’ve ever played together,” said Jason, an outside hitter. “We have a very new team, but these girls played amazing together tonight. It was just really fun to watch ... Tonight was kind of the first night we saw it all come together.”

Sophomore Ana De Leon had 12 kills, 10 digs and three service aces for the Eagles, and sophomore McKenna Covey had six kills. First-year Coach Nick Singleton’s Estancia squad also starts three freshmen, including setter Finley Garnett.

Hanson admitted that his team came out sluggish. But he knew the Mustangs could rally from two sets down, something they almost did in the first round of league against second-place Calvary Chapel before losing in five.

“We let [the Eagles] dictate the pace to begin with in their own gym, and they played really well in the first two games,” Hanson said. “We’ve been a little sluggish ever since Monday, we had a couple of starters miss practice. On Tuesday against Laguna, we stunk because we were out of sync, out of sorts. We had a really good team meeting [Wednesday] of what our expectations were from here going forward. Every girl tonight stepped up and played huge.”

Estancia was up 17-12 in the fourth set before Costa Mesa rallied. The score was tied at 23-23 before an Estancia hit into the net set up set point, which the Mustangs converted when senior opposite Natalie Tetreault hammered down a kill on an overpass.

The Mustangs used back-to-back kills from Jack to start the fifth and deciding set, and never looked back.

Willett said she wanted to play at her best against Estancia. She said that she and Jason have been competitive ever since they attended elementary school together at Christ Lutheran.

“We’re really working on just staying together and being one team,” Willett said. “We also know that as long as we support each other, both on the bench and on the court, that we can get through anything.”

Costa Mesa plays host to Godinez on Tuesday, in a key league match that will be the Mustangs’ senior night. Estancia travels to play at league-leading defending champion Laguna Beach.