Mira Costa girls' volleyball beats Sierra Canyon in playoffs

Mira Costa girls’ volleyball bounces back against Sierra Canyon in regional semifinal

Mira Costa coach Cam Green talks to his team during a timeout at a match against Redondo Union earlier this season.

Nov. 12, 2022 9:55 PM PT

The bus was too loud for Cam Green to talk.

A week earlier, the mood was completely different, emotions sunk as the Manhattan Beach Mira Costa girls’ volleyball team rode back from Cerritos College, players embracing after falling to Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in the Southern Section Division 1 final.

But on Saturday, a team that’s been chasing banners was all hoots and hollers, screams of joy echoing behind Green as the coach recapped a 3-2 (26-28, 25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 15-13) bounce-back win over the same Trailblazers team in an Open Division regional semifinal.

“It’s incredible,” Green said. “It’s rare in sports you get an opportunity like that to play someone again so fast.”

Last Saturday, Mira Costa was “a little bit rattled,” Green said, in facing a rolling Sierra Canyon squad as 6-foot-4 Pittsburgh commit — and recently named 2022 AVCA first-team All-American — Olivia Babcock dominated.

But it was 6-foot junior setter Charlie Fuerbringer, one of the best players in the nation in her own right, who stole back the momentum for the Mustangs on Saturday. Green wrote via text that it was “one of her best matches of the year.”

“She just has the ability to put us in good situations when usually you’re not in good situations ... you can’t put a price tag on that,” Green said earlier in the season.

A dominant run may well end Tuesday, however, as the Mustangs face a juggernaut in the regional final — San Diego Cathedral, which not only is 40-0 this season but also has yet to lose a single set.

”They’re the best team in the country,” Green said.

The Dons haven’t had pressure all year, Green emphasized, and his tentative plan: win the first set. It’ll be a challenge. But take those first 25, and from there, anything could happen.

“Maybe that’s going to make them think a little differently,” Green said.