Mustangs fall in Johnson’s farewell

LUCERNE VALLEY — It could have been a better result, but Earl Johnson had no regrets about his final match as Lucerne Valley’s girls volleyball coach.

The Mustangs were swept Saturday night by Laguna Blanca 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 in the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs.

The No. 3-seeded Owls won the championship last year.

“Our team played the best volleyball they played all year, and I was very, very proud of them,” Johnson said.

The Mustangs have made the quarterfinals the past two years after never having advanced that far in school history. They won their fifth straight Desert Mountain League title and extended their league winning streak to 35 games.

Johnson missed the team’s second-round victory earlier this week while nursing a blood clot in the hospital. He will retire and hand over the reins to assistant coach Patty Courtney.

“It was a year where our seniors did a fantastic job,” Johnson said. “I’ve just been blessed to coach a really great group of girls, especially these seniors.”