Sailors, Oilers are even
The two times Huntington Beach High and Newport Harbor have met in a Sunset League boys’ volleyball match one 6-foot-4 starting middle blocker hasn’t been available.
In the first meeting on April 5, the Oilers played without their middle, Davey Kim, who was in Europe. In Huntington Beach, the Oilers’ 121-match winning streak, the longest in the United States, ended in a four-set loss to the Sailors.
The next affair between the Sailors and Oilers took place on Friday, and in this one, Newport Harbor didn’t have the services of middle blocker Spencer Lawrence. As for the reason for his absence, Coach Rocky Ciarelli said it was “a team thing.”
Not having Lawrence affected host Newport Harbor, on the court and in the league standings. The four-time defending league champion Oilers won, 25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21, and moved into a first-place tie with Newport Harbor.
Three games remain in league, and if both teams win out, the Sailors (18-6, 6-1 in league) and Oilers (22-1, 6-1) will share the league title. More importantly, the league’s top seed would go to Newport Harbor.
Even though each program won their respective match in four sets, the next head-to-head tiebreaker is point percentage. That number is in the Sailors’ favor.
“We definitely won by more points than they beat us, so as long as we can win [the final three matches], we’d be the higher seed,” Ciarelli said. “I’ll be happy with that.”
Ciarelli wasn’t in a good mood after his alma mater handed the Sailors their first setback in league. Newport Harbor, the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, never led in the opening set, and in the next set, the tables turned.
The Sailors had the advantage in Game 2, until the No. 4 Oilers came back late. Newport Harbor led, 20-17, but a service error by Landon Monroe (16 kills) cut its lead to two. Then the one middle the Oilers didn’t have around the last time they faced the Sailors delivered.
With Kim serving, Huntington Beach went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-20 lead. During the stretch, Huntington Beach’s Eric Beatty blocked a shot and hammered two kills. Beatty, who led the Oilers with 14 kills, added his fifth kill in the second set, putting Huntington Beach at set point.
Shane Holdaway, a 6-7 middle recovering from a recent bout of mononucleosis, and Tanner Woods, a 6-5 setter, closed things out for the Oilers. They combined to stuff Newport Harbor outside hitter Cole Pender (15 kills), giving Huntington Beach the first two sets.
Holdaway, who finished with 12 kills and a .786 hitting percentage, praised Kim’s presence.
“He brings a lot of things to the table that we missed when he was not there,” said Holdaway, referring to Kim’s energy, leadership. “I know they were missing one of their middles [Friday], so now it’s kind of even.”
