Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball pulls off upset at CdM
Huntington Beach had a nice taste of second-division boys’ volleyball last year — reaching the CIF Southern Section title match and claiming the Southern California Regional Division II title — but the Oilers want more now and needed to knock off Corona del Mar, on the road and without their top player, to keep their Division 1 hopes alive.
They did so impressively Tuesday evening with a straight-sets victory, as sophomore Ben Bray stepped into All-CIF outside hitter Liam Phinizy’s spot and delivered 14 kills while expertly handling most of the Sea Kings’ serves. The Oilers leapfrogged their hosts for second place in the Surf League, likely setting up a rematch for the league’s second automatic playoff berth.
Huntington Beach (18-10, 3-3 in the Surf League) also received big performances from sophomore setter Jake Pazanti, freshman libero Aiden Atencio and senior outside hitter Jake Upham — plus senior opposite Camden Schulte and defensive specialist Jack Hopkins off the bench — to complete their regular-season schedule with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 victory, their first in the last six meetings with CdM.
The Sea Kings (15-8, 2-3), also missing key talent, will get another shot at the Oilers with an expected victory in Thursday’s league finale at Laguna Beach (14-19, 0-5), which has won just one of 16 sets against Surf League foes. The second-place playoff would take place Friday at 5:15 p.m. on Edison’s court.
“They knew [the No. 2 spot was possible] coming in,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. “They want to play in the top division, and they know the only chance they have to do that is to get second in league, and upsetting a team that’s been [ranked] in the top five all year, that’s a good win.”
Pazanti, whose team is ranked 10th in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 1 and 2 combined poll, believes there will be eight teams in the Division 1 field. The Oilers hope to join Surf League champion Newport Harbor (22-5, 6-0) among them.
Corona del Mar, ranked fifth, has a Division 1 shot as a third-place finisher, although successive home losses to Newport Harbor and the Oilers and a tournament defeat Saturday to No. 17 Burbank Burroughs could force them into Division 2. The rankings haven’t been updated since April 11.
Phinizy, a 6-foot-5, Loyola-Chicago-bound junior who had 31 kills in last month’s four-set loss to CdM, was sidelined with the flu, and Bray, Upham (10 kills) and Schulte (six kills in the last two sets) stepped up in his absence. The Sea Kings were without standout George Bruening (flu), a 6-8 junior opposite, and senior outside hitter Ethan Pliha (sprained ankle) and didn’t get what they needed from their depth.
“Our effort wasn’t there, and we didn’t play as a team,” Corona del Mar coach Katey Thompson said. “We didn’t want it, we didn’t fight for it. ... We still could have come out ready to go. We pride ourselves on not being based around one or two individuals. We play as a unit, and this was a time we should have embraced that and embraced being a team. ...
“Definitely some soul-searching is going to have to happen this week.”
Phinizy and Bruening are expected to be available Friday.
The Oilers never trailed in the first set, slowly pushing their lead to five points — at 17-12 to start — and prevailing on an Atencio dig that arched over the net. Huntington Beach then conceded eight of the first dozen points in set two. Pazanti called timeout with a 16-11 deficit, and Huntington Beach rallied to take the set.
Bray scored with three kills and a block and Hopkins added an ace to start the run. Sea Kings errors helped Huntington Beach take a lead in the final set. Then CdM, behind sophomore outside hitter Sterling Foley (13 kills) and senior opposite Jake Olson (10 kills), rallied to forge a 20-20 tie. A long CdM serve and senior middle blocker Michael Rini’s kill restored a two-point lead, and the Oilers held on.
Pazanti said his team was bolstered by its trek last week for a tournament in Hawaii.
“We’re a young group, but we’ve gotten better throughout the year and kind of grown up as we’ve played,” he said. “I think that trip got this group a little closer together. When you have that morale and then the one goal in mind — ‘it’s not about me, it’s about we’ — it helps when you win a game like this.”
The Division 2 success was welcomed, but Division 1 is where the Oilers want to be.
“I think we’re capable of beating anyone, even with our young roster,” Bray said. “We’ll see what happens in the playoffs.”
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