Boys’ volleyball: Loyola tops Mira Costa in four sets

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In an exciting match every bit as good as advertised, Los Angeles Loyola overcame a 22-19 deficit in the fourth set to knock off Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23, in the schools’ annual nonleague showdown at Loyola Marymount.

Senior outside hitters Nick Porterfield and Alex Slaught had 14 and 13 kills, respectively, as the host Cubs stayed undefeated and avenged their five-set defeat to Mira Costa on the same court last season. A pair of kills by Slaught brought Loyola to match point and its bench rushed the court in celebration moments after Mira Costa was whistled for a net violation.

‘I know everyone on their team through club, so it was fun to play them,’ Portferfield said. ‘After that second game, Coach told us to dig deep and really go after that third one. This looked like it might go five but we really came together at the end to close it out.’

It was Loyola’s second victory over its Southland rival this season, having beaten the Mustangs 25-12, 25-19 during the Best of the West Tournament earlier this month. The Cubs are ranked #1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 rankings and have every intention of staying there.

‘I enjoy being at the top, but every team is out to get you so it means we have to play well every match because the target’s on our back,’ Porterfield added. ‘The difference this year is our experience. They still have the talent, but we’re the more experienced team.’

Junior opposite hitter Scott Stephanoff had 11 kills and junior middle blocker Ryan Kaseff added nine for the Mira Costa (10-3), which trailed 12-7 in the fourth set before pulling even at 14-14. Setter Keith Waddell’s ace serve gave the Mustangs a 22-19 lead but they couldn’t quite force a deciding fifth set.

‘Their guys have been here before and you can’t discount how important that is in a match like this,’ Mira Costa Coach Mike Longacre said. ‘We made too many errors on our side of the net and if you take a few of those away Game 4 goes a different way.’

-- Steve Galluzzo