Khristian Nielsen’s 20 kills lead Ocean View to five-set playoff victory

The Ocean View High boys’ volleyball team drew a home match against Lancaster Eastside to open the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs.

After reaching the postseason for the first time since 2012, the Seahawks were denied a true home contest, as Jim Harris Gymnasium is currently closed for refurbishment.

The Seahawks will gladly play the role of road warriors as long as they can keep their season alive.

Senior opposite Khristian Nielsen pounded out a career-high 20 kills, and Ocean View held on to defeat the Lions 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13 in Saturday’s wildcard match at Fountain Valley High.

Ocean View will slot in against Anaheim in the main draw. The Orange League champion Colonists (18-4) will host the teams’ first-round match on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Junior setter Hunter Miller had 54 assists, four kills and 3½ blocks. He formed a connection with Nielsen in the fifth set, when he had six kills and no errors.

“I knew that he was going to feed me the ball,” Nielsen said. “I just had to keep calm and put it in the places where they couldn’t get it. That was just the key for me. I wanted to win so bad.”

For a team with no prior playoff experience, the Seahawks (10-10-2) were able to rally in the face of adversity. They trailed 3-0 in the final set, but they drew even when senior middle blocker Jacob Lizardi (11 kills, 2 service aces) was able to save a ball while running into his own bench.

“That was really crazy,” junior outside hitter Kermel Anwell said. “I wasn’t really expecting that. Usually when that happens, we wouldn’t really go for it, but this time, Jacob actually came through and actually hit the ball to us. We were able to get the ball over the net.”

Ocean View won the point to tie the score at 5-5.

As the finish neared and a team’s season came closer to its end, the last set became a matter of grit, not execution.

“Everyone’s heart is definitely racing,” Miller said of the final set. “We’re thinking, ‘Don’t screw up. Don’t screw up.’

“As Coach [Joshua Nehls] has always said, you can’t be afraid of errors. You got to want to make errors by going so hard that it just happens. When you go hard and you get that big kill, that’s when we all get energy.”

Junior outside hitter Jackson Petrovich had 16 kills, including the match-clinching strike. Junior outside hitter Devon Vu added seven kills and three blocks.

Senior outside hitter Gamallel Escobar had a match-high 23 kills for the Lions (19-11).

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner