REDONDO BEACH — For a second time this season, a boys volleyball match between Redondo Union and Loyola went the five-set distance.
Both times, the Sea Hawks were unable to find an answer in the deciding set.
Redondo lost to Loyola in five sets, 26-24, 23-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-7, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals Saturday.
Loyola (23-3) will face defending CIF-SS champion Mira Costa in the championship match Friday, May 15, or Saturday, May 16, at Cerritos College.
The Sea Hawks (27-4) had trouble handling the Cubs’ serve and passing for key stretches, coach Kevin Norman said. The loss denied Redondo a second CIF-SS finals appearance in three years.
“Their serving in game five was the difference,” Norman said. “What it really just came down to was serve and pass. If they served and passed better than us, they were winning the games. If we passed, we could get our (middle blockers) going and if we got our middles going we were fine.”
Mira Costa, which Huntington Beach in the other Division 1 semifinal Saturday, defeated the Cubs in five sets March 20 in Manhattan Beach.
Loyola will be trying to win its second title in three years.
Loyola coach Michael Boehle said containing Mira Costa outside hitter Mateo Fuerbringer will be a challenge for his team.
“They’re a good team,” Boehle said of the Mustangs. “We had them on the ropes when we played them there. It’s a different atmosphere, neutral court and it’s the finals, so you leave it all out. I mean, it’s going to be a good match. We’re looking for some redemption.”
The Cubs were led Saturday by the strong play of outside hitter Rafa Milchan, who had 17 kills. He also had three of the team’s five service aces in the fifth set.
Loyola had an 8-3 advantage from the service line, including four aces from Milchan. Redondo made matters worse with 21 errors on serves, including seven in the opening set.
In the fifth, Milchan had a kill followed by three consecutive aces to build an 11-6 lead. The Sea Hawks used a timeout.
“There’s no better feeling than being in a groove behind the service line,” Milchan said.
The Sea Hawks got 12 kills from opposite hitter JR Boice, but he was held without a kill in the third and fifth sets. Outside hitter Cash Essert added 10 kills and Carter Mirabal chipped in eight. Middle blocker Kyle Russell contributed two of the team’s six blocks.
The team was inconsistent in distributing a “hittable ball,” according to Norman.
“We’re just a little undersized at the setter position,” Norman said. “Kian (Panganiban) did a good job. He’s the smaller of the two but he jumps pretty well. … We had our best passers in there and we still didn’t pass it.
“They went through and aced every single dude on our team. What are you going to do? I don’t have answers for that.”
The Cubs also got valiant efforts from outside hitters Blake Fahlbusch and JP Wardy, who both battled injuries, Boehle said.
Fahlbusch added 12 kills to go with three blocks and Wardy chipped in 11 kills.
To record the penultimate kill in the third set, Fahlbusch had an assist from a seated position close to the service line on a pass that found Wardy.
To open the fifth, Fahlbusch had a block, a kill and an ace to help open a 6-3 lead before Milchan took over.
Fahlbusch, with an ice bag wrapped around his left shoulder afterward, said the moment was what the Cubs “worked for all year.”
“Rafa stepped up in a big moment and we got some energy going to start the fifth,” Fahlbusch said.
“(The championship) is going to be chippy. Love playing (Mira Costa), they love playing us. It’s a really good rivalry.”
Redondo will look to regroup and get healthy before the CIF State playoffs begin.
Norman joked that a different matchup in the semifinals would have been nice.
“We usually get a pretty hittable ball, so I don’t know what happened in this game,” Norman said. “We’ve had a couple guys who have been sick. That might have had something to do with it a little bit, not being able to practice.
“It sounds like Costa handled Huntington pretty easy. I think Huntington was a little beat up and sick also. So it would have been nice to have Huntington instead of Loyola, but that’s just not the way it worked out. We haven’t played Huntington all year, it would have been nice to play them.”