Boys’ Volleyball: Tufuga leads Mustangs
When Todd Hanson took over the Costa Mesa High volleyball programs last school year, he wasn’t sure what he had with the boys. There definitely wasn’t much size.
Hanson first coached the girls in the fall. During that time, he met Mason Tufuga, who was 6-foot-2 at the time and looked like a volleyball player.
“He came in and he was peppering,” Hanson said. “I don’t know if it was before a practice or a [match], but I remember saying to him, ‘So, yeah, you’re going to try out for volleyball?’ He’s like, ‘No, I’m a baseball player.’”
Baseball was Tufuga’s favorite sport growing up. Baseball meant everything to him. Baseball was also what his parents pushed. They believed with their son’s size and his left-handed arm baseball offered Tufuga the best opportunities to play past high school.
The year before high school, club volleyball came into Tufuga’s life. He tried out during Christmas break for the Orange Coast Volleyball Club. And even though Tufuga missed the first ball he swung at, the ball hitting him in the head, the club team wanted him.
Costa Mesa also coveted his services as a freshman, but after playing football at the school in the fall, basketball in the winter, Tufuga decided to go out for baseball, not volleyball, in the spring. The baseball team struggled, but all the losing that season wasn’t the reason why Tufuga, a pitcher and first baseman, gave up on baseball.
“It had been such a long time that I had been playing baseball,” said Tufuga, who began playing since he was 4. “I kind of got tired of it.”
The decision wasn’t an easy one for Tufuga, who preferred volleyball’s up-tempo pace to the slow one in baseball. He put off his decision as long as he could, until his sophomore basketball season.
Without telling Hanson, Tufuga showed up for the volleyball tryouts, surprising Hanson. The coach soon found out that he knew Tufuga’s father well before Tufuga.
“Last year I didn’t see his dad at the beginning of the season,” Hanson said. “I think it was a couple of [matches] in, and his dad walked into the gym, and I turned to Mason and I said, ‘What’s your dad’s name?’ He told me [it was Maliumai]. I didn’t recognize it. I asked him, ‘Does he go by anything else?’ He said, ‘Yeah, Mai.’ I’m like, ‘Fai, Mai and Lalo. I remember those [Tufuga brothers] from like 25 years ago. We used to play ball at a Mormon church in Huntington Beach. Great guys. Awesome volleyball.’ It was really cool to hook back up and rekindle that friendship.”
Hanson and Tufuga’s dad reunited, and ever since, Hanson has enjoyed coaching Tufuga, who is now a 6-5 opposite.
Tufuga was a one-man show last year with the Mustangs, helping them to three wins in Orange Coast League play. Three matches into his junior season, Tufuga has Costa Mesa one victory away from matching last year’s win total in league.
Tufuga led the Mustangs twice to wins last week, first a 20-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12 come-from-behind win at rival Estancia, followed by a 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21 triumph at Godinez. Against the Eagles, Tufuga finished with 44 kills, one shy of his career high. In the decisive fifth set, setter Coby Pham kept feeding Tufuga and he produced 12 of the team’s 15 points, 11 coming on kills and one on a block.
The Mustangs went into spring break with a 2-1 record in league and tied for second place with Godinez. Tufuga recorded 31 kills and a dozen digs against the Grizzlies.
League action resumes next week, first with a home match against Saddleback on Tuesday and then a contest at Calvary Chapel on Thursday. Those aren’t the only matches on Tufuga’s schedule. He also plays golf at Costa Mesa, which tees off against Estancia on Monday and Calvary Chapel on Thursday. The latter one he might have to miss because volleyball takes precedence over golf.
His swing on the court is more valuable than the one on the course. Reaching the CIF Southern Section Division 2 volleyball playoffs is Tufuga’s goal. The last time Costa Mesa reached the playoffs was six years ago. A top-three finish in league earns the Mustangs a postseason berth.
Tufuga has been a part of two postseasons, both in basketball. He missed the playoffs in football and baseball, sports he quit after one season to focus on volleyball, basketball and school.
Sports aren’t what only keep Tufuga busy. He said he’s taking four Advanced Placement classes this year and maintaining a 4.2 overall grade-point average.
There was a time that Tufuga thought about taking his talents to another school for baseball purposes. He said Edison, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar looked attractive. But Tufuga said he’s happy to be at Costa Mesa, which is 8-4 overall and looking to finish with a winning record for the first time in six years.
“My family is kind of like loyal,” said Tufuga, who plans to play volleyball in college. “If we buy into something early, I think we’re going to stick with it and that’s what we’ve done.”
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Mason Tufuga
Born: July 1, 1997
Hometown: Costa Mesa
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 215 pounds
Year: Junior
Coach: Todd Hanson
Favorite food: Cancun Fresh Mexican Grill wet burrito
Favorite movie: “The Dark Knight”
Favorite athletic moment: “I was [14 and] playing baseball actually for an All-Star team from Costa Mesa Pony. We were playing against some Mexican All-Star team that traveled up [to Orange County] to play. After the game, my parents were approached by an [international] scout [from the Oakland A’s].”
Week in review: Tufuga totaled 75 kills, leading Costa Mesa to its first two wins in Orange Coast League play.