Girls’ Volleyball: Oilers roll at Edison

Only one high school girls’ volleyball team — Huntington Beach — beat Edison last year in Sunset League action. The Oilers defeated the Chargers twice, and they knocked off everyone else in league.

In the first meeting between two of the top six programs in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, the Oilers topped host Edison again. It took only three sets, as Huntington Beach swept, 25-21, 25-21, 26-24, on Tuesday.

Outside hitter Cami Sanchez led No. 6-ranked Huntington Beach with 17 kills and opposite Anna Carroll added seven kills.

“On the road and against this team, that’s really impressive,” Huntington Beach Coach Craig Pazanti said of the victory. “This team has been playing great all year, so to come in here and [sweep is great]. We got off to a pretty good start, and then [we] just [tried] to keep that momentum.”

The Oilers (20-2, 2-0 in league) have been rolling. They won their 15th straight match in league dating back to 2014.

Going into the showdown with No. 3 Edison (21-7, 1-1) Pazanti said he saw something in his Oilers. They claimed the two-day La Jolla Coastal Classic tournament on Saturday.

“You hope there [are] times during a season where something clicks, and I think when we were down in La Jolla this weekend I kind of felt the energy kind of change with this team,” said Pazanti, whose team defeated The Bishop’s School, from La Jolla, in the best-of-three final. “While it was a little nerve-racking to play seven matches [at the tournament] before you have to play this [Edison] team on the road, I think it was good for us. We got a lot of people into the matches. We kind of saw what we could do and where our strengths and weaknesses were.”

Huntington Beach ran a 6-2 for the second time in league and it turned out to be a rousing success. The Oilers have wins over Los Alamitos and Edison, the only teams that many believed could challenge the defending league champions.

At the beginning, the Chargers failed to get the ball over the net on their first three swings. It wasn’t the kind of start Edison Coach Matt Skolnik expected.

“We weren’t clicking as we have in the past this season, but I think a lot of that was because of Huntington Beach,” said Skolnik, whose team plays host to Newport Harbor on Thursday. “I think it’s definitely a learning lesson. We need to bring it every match, especially in a tough league against tough opponents like Huntington, like Los Al, like Newport. A subpar effort is not going to cut.”

The Oilers scored the first three points, and they led by as many as four. Then Edison went on a 7-2 run to take its first lead. Cassidy Dennison’s kill capped the spurt, putting the Chargers ahead, 11-10.

The sides would be even twice more, thanks to kills by Sanchez and Edison’s Maggie Gunther. The Oilers scored five of the next six points, forcing Edison to call a timeout. Trailing Huntington Beach, 17-13, Edison cut the deficit in half on Hannah Phair’s service ace.

The rest of the way, Sanchez and Bailey Nelson, who finished with seven kills, put away the Chargers. The Chargers also hurt themselves with a service error and two violations.

While the Oilers pulled away in Game 1, the next set was tight throughout. The ninth tie came when it was 18-18. No team had led by more than three points, and that was when Phair made it 8-5 in favor of Edison with one of her 12 kills.

The first time Huntington Beach took a three-point advantage was because of Carroll, its left-handed hitter. The senior put the Oilers up, 22-19, and Carroll’s big swing put her team at set point. For the second time in as many sets, Huntington Beach won by the same 25-21 score.

Game 3 saw the Oilers rally from a three-point deficit late. What brought them back was their blocking. Mahina Williamson, who hit .600 with five kills, and Carroll teamed up to turn back a shot to tie the set at 22-22.

Sanchez gave Huntington Beach the lead on a kill. After timeouts by both sides, Dennison trimmed the Oilers’ lead to 24-23 with a kill. Lindsey Sparks (30 assists) and Kristin Austin (seven kills) knotted the score for Edison with a combined block.

The last two blocks went to the Oilers. Williamson and Carroll stuffed a shot, and then it was Sanchez and Julia Jackson’s turn to block one, sealing the match for Huntington Beach.

“We were kind of in this spot last year, too. We got through these first two,” said Pazanti, whose team has a home date with Fountain Valley on Thursday. “I’m not looking past anybody. We’re trying to get through the first half of league and then get ready to refocus again for the second half of league.”