MANHATTAN BEACH — Sequels rarely live up to the standard set by the original and that was evident in the rematch between the Huntington Beach and Mira Costa boys volleyball teams.
Eight days ago in the CIF-SS Division 1 final, Huntington Beach went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs in a five-set thriller that the Mustangs won.
But on Saturday night, the Oilers were swept by MaxPreps’ top-ranked team in the nation, 26-24, 25-20, 25-16, in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I final at Mira Costa High.
With the victory, the Mustangs (36-2) earned a trip to Fresno for the inaugural CIF State Championships for boys volleyball on Saturday May 31.
Huntington Beach (36-5) was rolling in the first set but was unable to hold on to its nine-point lead and also lost Colin Choi at a crucial point in the frame.
According to Oilers coach Craig Pazanti, Choi didn’t step on his teammates’ foot, he just rolled his ankle on his own after a big swing at the net. He returned in the second set but was unavailable for the final part of the first set.
“You know, we lose our best passer at the end of set one,” Pazanti said, “and who knows, would’ve, should’ve, could’ve, but I’m guessing if he doesn’t get hurt, we win set one. And you know, maybe it’s a different mental approach to the rest of the match. But give them (Mira Costa) a ton of credit.”
Mira Costa coach Greg Snyder concurred with Pazanti about Choi’s brief absence from the court.
“I think Colin injuring his ankle in that first set really was a change.” Snyder said. “I think we were coming back, but that opened the door and just our momentum completely shifted when that happened. And I honestly think that first set probably would have been won by Huntington if that didn’t happen. And this match would have been completely different.”
Oilers outside hitter Logan Hutnick had a match-high 17 kills and opposite Ben Arguello had nine kills.
Cooper Keane had a team-high 16 kills and Grayson Bradford added seven kills and 5.5 blocks.
The 6-11 Bradford was a towering figure at the net for Mira Costa, which had a 7-4 advantage in total blocks over the Oilers.
Pazanti looked back on the Oilers’ accomplishments this season, which include winning the Sunset League for the first time since 2016 and finishing the season 36-5 as a CIF SoCal Regional finalist.
“We played, including tonight, and if you include the Top 10 in CIF, including the two teams that finished in the finals of Division 2, played 21 matches against the Top 10 in CIF this year and we were 17-4, against the top (teams),” Pazanti said. “So we don’t duck anybody. Year to year, we’re going to play against the best competition, and that’s how we get better. It would have been nice to get one more match, but you can’t be disappointed when you have that kind of a season.”
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