Redondo girls beach volleyball defeats rival Mira Costa to win CIF-SS Division 1 championship

LONG BEACH — The opening set of the match didn’t go smoothly for Redondo’s No. 3 beach volleyball pairs team of Bella Jones and Kara Namimatsu.

However, the newly formed pairs team regrouped and with all eyes fixated on their third set against Mira Costa’s Allyn Hilt and Lily Sprague, they delivered Redondo’s first CIF-Southern Section championship.

“Trusting in each other was a big piece of it,” Namimatsu said of bouncing back. “Our coach instilled a lot of confidence, trust in your in your training, trust in each other. We had only played one game (together), so we had nothing to lose, we might as well finish strong.”

With the win by Jones and Namimatsu (12-21, 21-14, 15-13), Redondo edged its rivals 3-2 in the third CIF-SS Division 1 beach volleyball championship final at Long Beach City College. The previous two featured Mira Costa defeating Redondo.

“I didn’t play well in the first set and Kara was really supportive the entire team and we have amazing coaches and they helped me turn it around,” Jones said. “I think I played a lot better in the second set and Kara played all the way through.”

Jones-Naminatsu trailed 11-8 in the third set and would rally for a 13-12 lead on a kill by Naminatsu and two points later Jones’ cross court shot ended the match.

The duo was put together just in time for the semifinals against JSerra.

“I trust Bella so much and I trust the coaches that they knew our chemistry would work really well together,” Namimatsu said. “It was because of an injury that we had to change things around.”

Mira Costa booked the first win of the match with the duo of Audrey Flanagan and Anabelle Redaelli (21-11, 21-18) winning at No. 4 pairs.

Redondo won at No. 1 pairs with Avery Junk and Abby Zimmerman (21-17, 21-14) winning to even the match at 1-1. the No. 1 pairs. Mira Costa took a 2-1 lead in the match with a win at No. 5 pairs (Lerin Rosenthal and Samantha Nammack).

Redondo evened the match at 2-2 with Leah Blair and Addy Junk’s win at No. 2 pairs (22-20, 21-12), sending the remaining players on both teams hurriedly to the No. 3 pairs.

“I definitely thought we would have to win the match on the lower courts,” Mira Costa coach Nancy Reynolds said. “Our 1’s and 2’s and their 1s and 2s have been competitive all season. It just came down to probably feeling a little more pressure on our side and they played a little more free.”

This was the third match of the season between the Mustangs and Sea Hawks. Redondo won the first Bay League match 3-2 (March 4) and Mira Costa won the second 5-0 (March 26) to secure a share of the Bay League title. After losing to JSerra, the following day after the second Mira Costa match, Redondo won seven consecutive matches to advance to the final.

“These girls are amazing,” Redondo coach Mark Pa’aluhi said. “They displayed a lot of courage…we went through an emotional roller coaster which a team does. I think it’s all of what in the big picture had brought the team closer.

“They knew what to do in regards to getting themselves fired up and together and team bonding and things like that. I think that pushed us further than our skill level could take us.”

Mira Costa had a 15-match winning streak entering the final, losing only one individual match during that time.