Underdog Oilers storm into CIF final

HUNTINGTON BEACH — They’ve spent time before every game of every CIF playoff match in a circle, chanting the words “I believe, I believe that we can win” over and over again.

“That’s our word that we go by,” senior outside hitter Kellie Turner said. “Just, ‘believe.’ ”

The Huntington Beach High girls’ volleyball team has always believed in its Cinderella story. Now everyone else can, too.

The unseeded Oilers upset No. 2-seeded Santa Barbara in four games Tuesday night at home, 25-21, 15-25, 25-21, 25-18, advancing to the CIF Southern Section Division IA final. It’s the first time Huntington Beach girls’ volleyball has made a CIF final since 1996.

Huntington Beach (18-11) will play top-seeded Dos Pueblos (29-2) in the final on either Friday or Saturday at Cypress College.

“These girls, I give them a lot of credit,” Oilers Coach Craig Pazanti said. “We’ve been beat up and sick, and realistically we’ve had our whole team for about two weeks this season.”

The Oilers are clearly peaking at the right time. Junior libero Savannah Clark has provided a lift, returning for CIF after missing the entire regular season due to a torn meniscus in her knee. Tuesday night, she contributed 25 digs.

“She’s been just a tremendous lift for us,” Pazanti said. “She’s a leader and to have her come back was really great for us.”

Turner had a match-high 20 kills against Santa Barbara, and 6-foot-6 senior middle blocker Haleigh Hampton added 13 kills and eight blocks. Sophomore opposite Aly Torline had 11 kills and sophomore setter Taylor Packer dished up 46 assists and 10 digs.

The Oilers were fresh off an upset of No. 4-seeded Marymount on the road Saturday night. In that match, they were down, 11-6, in the fifth game but found a way to win.

Against Santa Barbara, they also started strong, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in Game 1, a 6-0 run capped by an ace from junior Andrea Streips. Santa Barbara rallied to tie the score twice, but the Oilers held strong and finished off the game. They seemed to carry their momentum from the quarterfinal win over Marymount right into the semifinals.

“No one expected us to win [against Marymount],” Hampton said. “Coming into that gym and being able to take that win from them was absolutely unbelievable. The energy was insane; we were a team. If you asked me a month ago if we could be in CIF finals, I’d be like, ‘What are you talking about?’ We’ve come together, and everyone contributes. There’s not one person who’s not doing something for us...

[Beating Marymount] definitely helped our self-esteem and our confidence, but we were completely focused on tonight’s match [against Santa Barbara].”

Santa Barbara won Game 2 as the Oilers had trouble passing the ball. But they regained their focus in Game 3, even after falling behind, 6-2.

“That’s the story of our season, we’ve been hot and cold,” Pazanti said. “We’ve been trying to eliminate that up-and-down play. But when we’re passing the ball and playing defense, we can play with anybody. It was just nice to see us give a good effort and not have any ‘what-ifs’ and keep playing hard.”

It was the Oilers who jumped to a 6-2 lead in Game 4, punctuated by an ace from junior Kaitlyne Fisher. And, up 12-11, they went on a 6-0 run to put the game away.

“We’ve come together so much as a team during CIF, more than ever,” Turner said. “It’s amazing. Having Craig come as our coach has made everything so much better. This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve never been on such a good team before and I love all my teammates. All of us have so much heart for the game.”

The Oilers will again be underdogs in the CIF final against Dos Pueblos. The Chargers are the No. 7-ranked team in the nation in the ESPN Rise Fab 50 rankings.

But that doesn’t worry them.

“We definitely want it and we have the drive,” Hampton said. “A lot of other people don’t, but I believe we can beat Dos Pueblos in the finals, becuase we want it that much. It’s a really great feeling.”