By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The Mira Costa Mustangs sit atop the first MaxPreps.com volleyball national and state rankings despite sporting just a 3-0 record. But after a closer look, it's easy to see why they deserve such lofty praise.
The defending CIF Division 2 champions have already knocked off two defending state champions and a Southern California champion in building their 3-0 mark. The first to fall was Marymount, a team that won the Division 4 championship last year. The Mustangs won in three straight games.
Then came Laguna Beach. The Division 3 runners up last year, Laguna Beach also fell in three games. The third win came on Sept. 20 with a 3-0 win over Los Alamitos, the CIF Division 1 champion in 2006.
The Mustangs have not played in a tournament yet, but they are slated to play at the Durango Tournament in Las Vegas on Oct. 5 and 6 and the Torrey Pines tournament the following weekend. Mira Costa won the Durango tournament last year en route to a 34-1 record and the CIF Division 2 championship.
Mira Costa is without Southern Section MVP Alex Klineman and All-Division 1 middle blocker Lauren Bledsoe, but All-Division 1 second team pick Kendall Bateman is back as the team's setter this year.
Los Alamitos, which ranks second behind Mira Costa in the MaxPreps.com state rankings and sixth in the national rankings, are a reported 7-1 with wins over La Costa Canyon, Marymount and Santa Margarita. Los Alamitos defeated La Costa Canyon for the Southern Section title last year while Santa Margarita was the Southern Section Division 3 runnerup last year behind Laguna Beach.
Meanwhile Archbishop Mitty is third in the state rankings and seventh in the national rankings. Mitty lost to Mira Costa in last year's Division 2 championship, but sports a 10-0 record this year. The Monarchs have already won the Spikefest Tournament and the Presentation Tournament.
Marymount is 2-2 and ranks No. 4 in the state rankings followed by 7-1 Newport Harbor. The Sailors' only loss is to Vista Murietta at the Dave Mohs Tournament. Newport Beach also holds a win over Laguna Beach.
The rest of the top 10 includes 6. St. Francis of Mountain View (21-3), 7. Nevada Union of Grass Valley (21-1), 8. Bishop Montgomery (5-1), 9. Harvard-Westlake (7-3) and El Dorado of Placentia (6-1). Nevada Union, Harvard-Westlake, and Marymount are among the teams participating in the Archibishop Mitty Tournament this weekend.
The top teams in each section, include: Southern Section - Mira Costa; San Diego Section - Torrey Pines; Los Angeles City Section - Venice; Central Coast Section - Mitty; Central Section - Buchanan; Sac Joaquin Section - Nevada Union; Northern Section - West Valley; North Coast Section - Amador Valley; San Francisco Section - Balboa; Oaklan Section - Skyline.
West Valley of Cottonwood, the defending Northern Section Division 3 champion, has the best record in the state with a 27-0 mark.
