Mustangs on track

The Costa Mesa High girls volleyball team, under first-year coach

Chris Komer, seems to be right on track.

“If I didn’t think we could win first place in league, I wouldn’t

be here,” said Komer, the program’s fourth coach in five years.

After the first three games of this season, Mesa sits at 1-6, with

the victory over Santa Ana Valley in the team’s opener.

Komer, who as an assistant helped lead Los Alamitos to a CIF

Southern Section title in 2002, is optimistic about his new team’s

future.

“If our ball control stays consistent, we’ll be tough to beat,” he

said.

Last season’s team, which finished third in the Golden West League

and advanced to the CIF Division III-A playoffs, returns two key

players to the lineup in senior Tracy Bjelland and junior Danielle

Morton.

“Danielle’s coming along well,” Komer said. “She has good foot

speed, a great arm and a good sense of where to put the block. And

Tracy -- she’s a stud.”

Bjelland, the team’s tallest player at 5-foot-10, was a first-team

all-league outside hitter last season, while Morton was a second-team

all-league selection at the middle blocker position. Both are

projected to lead the team this season in its quest for another

playoff berth.

Assisting Komer in the coaching department are freshman coach

Brooke Lerevrin and junior varsity coach Casey Peterson, the latter

of whom played for Costa Mesa and Orange Coast College. The two

coaches, who both played at San Francisco State, have been working

with the team on conditioning and weightlifting.

With five girls returning from last year’s team, expectations are

high.

Dana Cabico, a returning senior who will be playing libero, has

already demonstrated her talent in practices and scrimmages, Komer

said.

Returner Heather Williams will play at middle blocker , while

freshman Kim Jackson, the daughter of former Major League Baseball

star Reggie Jackson, is fighting for the starting setter position

with Serena Lo.