Mesa heads north in more ways than one

The last time the Costa Mesa High girls’ water polo team headed north up Highway 101, it was a very positive experience.

In early January, the Mustangs went to the Arroyo Grande Tournament, and on the way up they played at Dos Pueblos of Goleta.

Costa Mesa lost to the Chargers, now the top-seeded team in the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs, 14-2. At the Arroyo Grande Tournament, the Mustangs finished 11th, beating Morro Bay and Chadwick and losing three other games.

But the trip wasn’t so much about the results.

“I think it really helped us,” Coach Tim Postiff said. “It turned our season around, to be honest. The girls had a really good time and they were able to bond as a group. That gave them a chance to not only play six games, but just be together for that amount of time.”

Now, Costa Mesa is again traveling up the coast where it plays at No. 3-seeded Santa Barbara in the first round of the Division II playoffs on Thursday.

Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar open up the Division I playoffs today at home. The Sailors play host to Schurr, while CdM is at home against Huntington Beach at 3:15 p.m.

For Costa Mesa (12-16), it will be the first time the underdog Mustangs play Channel League runner-up Santa Barbara (17-10) this season. The Dons, who won the Division II title four times from 1998 through 2002, also won four straight Division IV titles from 2003 to 2006.

“They’re smart, they’re fast,” Postiff said. “They’re good on the defensive end. They’re solid all-around.”

Costa Mesa is a young team, as juniors Ashley Rendon and Briana Williams, as well as sophomores Hannah Speer and Danielle Bowen, start alongside seniors Talhia Nuñez and Patricia Marty. Freshman Sydney Rosello is also emerging for Mesa, Postiff said.

Nuñez leads the team with 52 goals, followed closely by Rendon with 50.

The Mustangs graduated three seniors from a year ago, and all went on to play at local junior colleges: Shyra Crandall (Orange Coast), Brittany Mucha and Abbigail Dyvig (both Golden West).

But as the current Mustangs have gotten more familiar with each other, their offense has come around. Mesa scored 13 goals in last week’s CIF-clinching win over Estancia, and was five for seven on the power play. The efficiency allowed the Mustangs, formerly in Division VI, to qualify for CIF for the sixth straight year.

“In the last three games, we’ve been able to execute the six-on-five a lot better,” Postiff said. “They’ve picked it up a little bit more.”

Postiff knows Thursday’s game will be tough. But, that’s the reason he made the Mustangs’ preseason schedule so challenging, he said.

Costa Mesa lost to Mira Costa, 11-1, in the first round of last year’s Division II playoffs.

“We got beat up in that game,” Postiff said. “But for them to come back with that fire, that want to succeed, it shows a lot about our kids.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.