HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team took care of business Tuesday night by sweeping Redondo, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19, to move one step closer to a CIF-SS finals appearance.
The Oilers (33-3) are now 2-0 in Division 1 pool play and can advance to the championship game with a win Friday over Loyola or with a Newport Harbor victory over the Cubs on Wednesday.
Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti believed execution in the pivotal moments proved to be the difference, especially in the first two sets.
“We played them twice, so I don’t think there were any surprises for either team,” Pazanti said. “It was just a matter of execution, and you saw that in the first two sets, 25-23, 25-23.
“Both teams were playing at a pretty high level, I think our serve and pass game was just a little tighter and that’s kind of what got it (done). We just went on a couple runs late in both those sets.”
Pazanti added that the Oilers’ serving subs “did an amazing job tonight. Easton Ebmeyer and Nicky Brazao came in and really changed the tide from the service line, which is what we’ve been expecting from those guys all year. We don’t have a lot of jump servers, so those guys both jump serve and to have that happen is nice.”
Sophomore outside hitter Logan Hutnick led the Oilers attack with 15 kills while junior outside Colin Choi added 10 kills.
Pazanti was not surprised by Hutnick’s performance.
“You know, he doesn’t ever surprise me,” the coach said. “He’s just been steady for us. I mean in my eyes, I expect that out of him, you know.”
Pazanti called Choi “our unsung hero” and possibly the key to the team’s success in the postseason.
“He was amazing at the net tonight,” Pazanti said. “I always expect him to pass and play defense, but I don’t think they stopped him. … if he continues to play like that we’re going to be a tough out.”
Halfway through the opening set, Huntington Beach started to pull away on a kill from Hutnick and an ace from Ebmeyer.
The Sea Hawks (27-9) came right back to take a slim lead in the second set, 12-9, as they leaned on the play of Bobby Bennett and Cash Essert but the Oilers closed the gap before eventually taking control of the set and the match.
Pazanti stressed the importance of keeping their preparation the same despite what’s at stake.
“We play the game one way. It doesn’t matter what’s on the line,” he said. “I mean, our practices have been that way. We play the game one way, we play as hard as we can for as long as we can. That’s been our motto. So we’re gonna come out, we’re gonna prep tomorrow and Thursday and then we’ll come back out Friday night and we’ll go through the same routine we’ve been going through.”
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