Mustangs make their point

COSTA MESA ? It’s not often that a team can win its first five matches and then drop in the rankings, but that’s the situation Costa Mesa High’s boys’ volleyball team was in this week.

After dropping from fourth in the CIF Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll to out of it altogether, the Mustangs took it out on their crosstown rivals in a 26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22 Golden West League victory over Estancia on Wednesday. The Eagles, who were ranked No. 1 in Division III to start the season, and were No. 2 in the latest poll.

With Wednesday’s match involving the intracity rivals, there was plenty of motivation for the Mustangs even before the rankings came out. Costa Mesa’s 2-5 performance at the San Diego Tournament of Champions likely played a role in the tumble.

“I think people don’t really know too much about us,” Costa Mesa Coach Chris Komer said. “They don’t know that we’re a senior-led team and they’re taking us for granted. We’ve got some pretty good wins so far.”

The Mustangs (5-0, 1-0 in league) looked sharp and ready to go during their pre-match routine. Estancia’s warmups didn’t click nearly as well, an ominous harbinger of things to come.

Costa Mesa grabbed an early 8-2 lead in game one and pulled away late with a 7-3 run. The pattern continued in game two, as William Lefebvre had a kill and two blocks in a game-ending 6-2 burst.

Estancia (1-2, 0-1) jumped ahead in the third game, rattling off seven points in a row and hanging on to win the game. But the Eagles were clearly having difficulty getting the ball to middle blocker Dallas Kopp as much as they wanted to. The 6-foot-6 senior recorded five blocks, but only had six kills.

Brothers Shaun and Scott Markley hung in for the Eagles, usually facing two or three blockers on every swing. Shaun Markley had 21 kills, and Scott Markley added 11 kills.

“I think our offense, as a whole, wasn’t clicking tonight,” Estancia Coach Mark Cygan said. “It’s something we have to work on, spreading the ball around and playing a more complete offensive game, rather than relying so much on our outsides.”

On the other side, Costa Mesa setter Andrew Melcer had little trouble keeping the Mustangs’ offense running. Four Mustang players had at least seven kills, led by Ryan Bagwell’s 18.

Lefebvre added 14 kills, five blocks and four aces. Bagwell also had four aces.

“I knew if I could control the tempo of the game, we’d easily have it,” Melcer said. “Even though it went to four [games], this is great. I’ve never beaten Estancia before, so it’s a good feeling.”

The Eagles won’t have long to turn things around, as they travel to Orange for a Golden West League match today at 4 p.m.dpt-volley16.IMG0GraphicInfo1U1P0B7H200603161U1P0B7HNo Captiondpt-volley16.IMGGraphicInfo1U1P0B7F200603161U1P0B7FNo Captiondpt.16-vball-1-dz-BPhotoInfoRP1P0AI020060316iw7eydknDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Costa Mesa’s Ryan Bagwell, left, and Estancia’s Dallas Kopp, right, meet over the net during their match Wednesday at Estancia.