Huntington Beach boys' volleyball bests Newport Harbor in CIF opener

Los Angeles Times

01-05-2025

Huntington Beach showcased its depth at multiple positions in its postseason opener on Wednesday, as the Oilers were largely on the mark no matter who hit from the pins.
Logan Hutnick, Ben Arguello and Colin Choi combined for 47 kills, as Huntington Beach fended off Newport Harbor 25-14, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21 in the first of three pool-play matches in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys' volleyball playoffs.
'I think the way we started this match is exactly what we needed to do,' said Hutnick, a sophomore outside hitter who had a match-leading 17 kills. 'We really came out firing on all pistons. We threw the first punch, second, third. We truly came out and wanted to win, and they didn't give up, either.
'They came back. They definitely put up a fight, winning that third set, but I'm really happy with how we did today.'
Hutnick bounced a kill to clinch the first set, then had a service ace to claim the second set.
Huntington Beach (32-3), the second seed in Division 1, will host the remainder of its matches in pool play. The Oilers will face seventh-seeded Redondo Union (27-8) on Tuesday, before taking on third-seeded Los Angeles Loyola (27-5) on Saturday, May 10. Redondo swept Loyola in an upset on Wednesday night.
Top-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (29-2) beat Beckman (28-6) in straight sets, and Corona del Mar (22-5) swept San Clemente (19-9), as the Mustangs and Sea Kings defended their home courts to begin play in the other group.
Arguello, starting for the first time this season as a junior opposite, had 15 kills, 11 digs and two total blocks (one solo). Junior outside hitter Colin Choi added 15 kills, eight digs and a block.
Kai Gan, a Harvard-bound setter, contributed 44 assists, two kills and 1½ blocks. Senior libero Aiden Atencio also had 10 digs.
The Oilers did not feature the middle much on offense, although seniors Justin Bulsombut and Nick Ganier each had two block assists.
'We had to take into consideration that their opposite, Henry [Clemo], is a big powerhouse,' Arguello said. 'He has a great serve. That was the main thing, just our serve receive, staying consistent and making sure they don't get runs on us. That's kind of what happened in the third set, where we lost there.
'As far as our middles go, I just think we didn't really have the opportunity to run them as much as we'd like. I think definitely that's one of our key strengths.'
Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said the Oilers became 'pin-centric' on offense largely because of matchups. The middle still made an impact with multiple triple-block efforts.
'It's got to be right place, right time,' Pazanti said. 'We got to serve tough enough, or we got to attack good enough to get the ball off the net, where they become predictable. Definitely saw a few more [triple-block attempts]. The percentages of scoring for a high ball, they drop tremendously when that third blocker comes up. There's so much less court, and it allows us to play even that much better defense.'
Junior outside hitter JP Wardy had a team-leading 13 kills for Newport Harbor (24-11). Clemo, a junior, had a dozen kills and three aces. Junior setter Charlie Von Der Ahe distributed 42 assists.
Junior Zachary DeMaio provided eight kills and two block assists, and senior Jack Berry produced seven kills and four block assists at middle blocker. Senior outside hitter Wyatt Nichols added five kills and two block assists.
After Huntington Beach clinched the Sunset League title on Newport Harbor's home floor on April 11, the Sailors rebounded with a strong showing in the Redondo Tournament to earn a spot in the eight-team Division 1 competition. The Sailors won seven of their last eight games.
'The big thing the past couple weeks is we've played pretty clean,' Newport Harbor coach Matt Johnson said. 'I think that's just the big difference tonight. We didn't play super clean. We made a lot of unforced errors, and that's been the difference of our previous matches and the tournament win, versus here tonight. It is what it is. We got more matches. The beauty of the pool play is we can still make it. We're not done.'
Also in the CIF Southern Section boys' volleyball playoffs:
Corona del Mar 3, San Clemente 0: Junior outside hitter Ben Brown had 13 kills, as the Sea Kings swept the visiting Tritons 26-24, 25-18, 25-21 on Wednesday in a pool-play opener of the Division 1 playoffs.
Junior outside hitter Hunter Hannemann added seven kills and three aces for fourth-seeded CdM, which plays host to No. 5 Beckman on Tuesday.
Brogan Glenn, a UCLA-bound libero, contributed 16 digs. Junior middle blocker Jack Robinson had six kills, and junior setter Drake Foley handed out 32 assists.
Edison 3, San Juan Hills 1: Senior opposite Connor McNally had 14 kills, six digs and three block assists, as the Chargers earned a 25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21 road win to begin the Division 2 playoffs on Wednesday.
Junior middle blocker Brent Benson had 13 kills on a 0.684 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Nathan King added 11 kills, eight digs and 1½ blocks.
Sophomore setter Shane Nguyen tallied 29 assists for Edison (14-16), which plays at home against Mater Dei (23-12-2) on Wednesday, May 7 in the quarterfinals of the 16-team bracket. Senior libero Nathan Jackson finished with 15 digs and an ace.
St. Margaret's 3, Fountain Valley 0: The visiting Barons fell to the Pacific Coast League-champion Tartans 26-24, 25-13, 25-19 in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs on Wednesday.
Fountain Valley (21-11) was an at-large selection out of the Sunset League.
Sage Hill 3, Riverside Hillcrest 0: Senior outside hitter Jackson Cryst had 18 kills and five aces, as the Lightning earned a 25-18, 25-20, 25-16 win at home on Wednesday in the first round of the Division 4 bracket.
Sage Hill (15-11) will go on the road to face Pasadena Poly (15-3) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Pacifica Christian Orange County 3, Cerritos 0: Senior Hudson Reynolds had 19 kills, three aces and two blocks to lead the host Tritons to a 25-15, 25-14, 25-21 win on Wednesday in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs.
Junior Atticus Graham pounded out 12 kills to go with three aces and three blocks for Pacifica Christian (13-15), which will be at home to face Rancho Cucamonga (19-13) on Saturday. Junior Joaquin Rigdon contributed 28 assists and four blocks.
Ocean View 3, Palmdale Aerospace Academy 1: Junior outside hitter Alex McCarrick had 15 kills to pace the top-seeded Seahawks in a 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 25-13 win to open the Division 7 playoffs at home on Tuesday.
Senior opposite An Nguyen produced a dozen kills for Ocean View (16-8), which placed second in the Orange Coast League behind Westminster.
Ocean View remains home to face Lakewood (11-10) in the second round on Friday. The Lancers were straight-set winners over Camarillo Beacon Hill in the opening round.
Carpinteria 3, Los Amigos 0: Senior Devin Lee had 15 kills and four aces, but the visiting Lobos lost 25-20, 26-24, 25-21 on Wednesday in a Division 8 playoff opener.
Junior Andy Phan had nine blocks, and junior Gerardo Espinoza also had four aces for Los Amigos (6-12), which was the third-place finisher in the Grove League.
Pasadena Marshall 3, Liberty Christian 0: Sophomore opposite Justin Morgan had six kills and nine digs, but the visiting Minutemen were swept 25-11, 25-16, 26-24 on Tuesday in the first round of the Division 9 bracket.
Junior setter Caleb Santa dished out 23 assists for Liberty Christian (12-13), which finished in a tie for second place with Anaheim Acaciawood Academy in the Express League this season.