MANHATTAN BEACH >>The first set between the Mira Costa and Newport Harbor boys volleyball teams Saturday night was a microcosm of the entire match.

No matter what the Mustangs, the defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champions, did to claw back, the Sailors showed their resilience and pulled away. To do so in the same building they lost last year’s Division 1 championship match made it that much sweeter for outside hitter Jake Read and Newport Harbor.

Read registered 15 kills to lead the Sailors in a sweep, 25-20, 25-23, 28-26, and send the program to its fourth consecutive CIF-SS Division 1 title match.

The second and third sets were tied 16 and 17 times, respectively.

“It meant a lot,” said Read, who had the 26th and 27th points in the final set. “Last year in the finals, we took a rough loss in four (sets) and so we remembered that and took that to heart.”

After a discussion for less than a minute, officials confirmed that Mick Bakos’ final swing went wide for Mira Costa (20-10), sealing the match. It was the second time in more than six weeks Newport Harbor (24-5) swept its rival.

Luca Curci added 11 kills for the Sailors, who will face top-seeed Loyola (21-2) in next Saturday’s championship match at Long Beach City College. Newport Harbor will be seeking its first CIF-SS title since 2019.

The Mustangs lost 18 seniors from last year’s group, but assistant coach Greg Snyder said that was no excuse. Victor Loiola collected 16 kills to pace Mira Costa.

“They’re a polished team. They run a system and they run it well,” said Snyder, who was in charge while Avery Drost competed on the AVP Tour.

“We have a little less experience when it comes down to situations like this. … I thought we played well, but we’re just young. We battled but we didn’t just quite have enough.”

The Bay League co-champions tied the first set at 10 and then immediately took a brief two-point lead, but Newport Harbor took advantage of seven Mustangs service errors to prevail.

In set two, the Mustangs led as late as 22-21, but Read had six kills in the set as the Sailors continually exploited the right side of the net.

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Mira Costa charged out to a 7-2 advantage in set three, but Newport Harbor scored six of the next seven points to quickly regroup and the teams went back and forth to a 26-26 tie to set up the finish.

While Sailors coach Eric Vallely said the history between the programs isn’t something he gets too “hung up on,” he added that the stakes always provide a little extra motivation.

“Rivalries are always fun to play in,” Vallely said. “These two programs have been playing each other for decades and they’ve been very heated battles for decades.

“So, coming here and winning on their floor with going to the finals on the line, it’s a big deal for us.”