Newport Harbor boys’ volleyball improves to 30-0 with sweep at Huntington Beach

The Newport Harbor High boys’ volleyball team has not lost a regular-season match in two seasons.

After its latest display of dominance on Friday night, it is beginning to feel as though the only thing that could stop the Sailors from returning to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final and finishing the job would be themselves.

Senior outside hitter Dayne Chalmers had 17 kills to go with eight digs and two blocks, and Newport Harbor, ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 and 2 poll, won 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 in a Surf League match at No. 2 Huntington Beach.

The Sailors improved to 30-0 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Joe Karlous finished with 46 assists, adding five digs and two blocks. The Pepperdine-bound setter had his choice of hitters to work with, as outside hitter Blake Ludes and opposite Jack Higgs both had 11 kills.

Newport Harbor High’s Blake Ludes (6) puts a short set away for a kill past Huntington Beach’s Niko Colburn in a Surf League match on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“As long as we pass the ball, it’s very difficult for the other team to figure out,” said Sailors coach Rocky Ciarelli, whose team only lost twice last season, in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final and in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I final. “You’ve got to honor each guy, and that makes it hard in volleyball.”

Newport Harbor has prided itself on its consistency, and the Sailors rarely were taken out of system by the Oilers’ serving. Libero Ryan Schroeder led the back row effort to get the ball to Karlous.

“Recently, Ryan has been taking up more court in serve receive, and that’s been helping us a lot because our hitters can get outside and get ready to hit,” Chalmers said. “It just makes it harder on their servers.”

In the middle, Newport Harbor’s Caden Garrido put up a wall with three kills and three blocks. Alec Patterson also had six kills and 1½ blocks.

Newport Harbor came as close as it has come to suffering defeat last Saturday, getting stretched out to five sets at Manhattan Beach Mira Costa. The Sailors pulled through, but they know that many teams will be hoping to play the role of giant-killer.

“A lot of teams like to battle against us because they always want to beat us,” Higgs said. “We usually try to stay consistent. That’s how we kind of play our games.”

Newport Harbor High’s Jack Higgs, left, puts a ball away in the corner past Huntington’s Nathan Goode in a Surf League match on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Huntington Beach (20-6, 1-2) had a momentous five-set win at home against Laguna Beach (10-7, 0-3) to open league on March 29, rallying from two sets down. On Wednesday, the Oilers were not as fortunate, dropping the fifth set and the match at Corona del Mar (17-5, 2-1).

“In that match against Laguna, it just felt like there was nobody behind the wheel in the first two sets,” Oilers setter Aidan Knipe said. “We were just in cruise control. There was no energy.

“In my opinion, we’re a very energy-dependent team, and that’s what we also didn’t have tonight and in the first two sets against Laguna and the fifth set against CdM on Wednesday night.”

Huntington Beach High’s Aidan Knipe (7) puts up a jump serve in a Surf League match against Newport Harbor on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Knipe, who has signed with Long Beach State, had 28 assists and two service aces. Niko Colburn and Sinjin Choi both tallied 11 kills and two aces.

Nathan Goode added six kills, and Trent Douphner chipped in with four kills and an ace.

The left-handed Douphner is one of the more powerful hitters on the Oilers, but he was left out of the rotation for most of the second set and into Game 3.

“We’ve been playing with the lineup,” Oilers coach Craig Pazanti said. “[Goode] plays great sometimes, too. He’s probably a little better blocking. Our hitters run hot and cold.

“I think the one thing that we have is some depth, so is it great to have Trent on the court? Of course. We have four or five guys who battle every day in practice, so I’m seeing stuff that maybe not everyone is seeing just on game day.”

As for the gap between Newport Harbor and the rest of the top teams in the section, Pazanti said the Sailors’ consistency is what makes them tough to beat.

“There’s a reason they haven’t lost, and that’s because they’re not going to give anything away,” he said. “That’s the thing. We have to work so hard for points. We have to work so hard to stay in it and earn points when we’re serving, and then all of the sudden you have a hitting or serving error, and they have a three-point lead again.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner