Girls’ volleyball: Huntington Beach sweeps in SoCal Regional opener
HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Huntington Beach High girls’ volleyball team had plenty of time to refocus and recuperate.
The Oilers played Wednesday for the first time since losing in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs on Nov. 5.
The long layoff didn’t affect the Oilers. It actually helped them.
Huntington Beach opened the CIF State Southern California Regional Division I playoffs with a 25-12, 25-11, 25-18 sweep at home of Palisades.
“We took a little bit of time off, which I thought was good, just a couple of days just to let their bodies rest and recover,” Huntington Beach Coach Craig Pazanti said. “Mentally it’s kind of tough to come [into the state tournament with a loss]. I’ve been on both sides.
“The first practice we had back, after taking two or three days off, was really good, like surprisingly really good. Just not knowing if you’re even going to be in the tournament [was tough]. I thought we had a good chance.”
Despite the earlier-than-expected exit in the section playoffs, Huntington Beach received the top seed in the SoCal Regional Division I tournament. With an Open Division, the state selection committee deemed the Oilers the top team in the next division.
Huntington Beach (30-4) proved to be too much for No. 16 Palisades (26-8), the Los Angeles City Section Open Division finalist.
The three-set contest marked the Oilers’ first in the postseason. They went the distance twice in the section playoffs, outlasting Rancho Cucamonga in the second round, before allowing Long Beach Poly to come back and win in the quarterfinals.
The setback devastated Huntington Beach, which also saw a couple of players — libero Ashley Stevens and outside hitter Bailey Nelson — get sick.
Stevens returned to the lineup Wednesday, but she didn’t play the position she has played at Huntington Beach the last three years because Pazanti said she wasn’t 100%. Most of the other regulars did, and that was more than enough for the Oilers to get through to face No. 8 Chula Vista Eastlake in the next round at home on Saturday.
Cami Sanchez led the Oilers with 10 kills, and Maggie Baker and Julia Jackson each had eight kills.
With Palisades playing without standout Angelina Burton, the Oilers only had to focus on stopping one player, Alex Laita. Palisades Coach Carlos Gray said he sat Burton because she missed school on Wednesday.
“It was very tempting on a couple of occasions to put your kill leader on the outside in the game,” Gray said. “But I can’t do it. Now she knows the rule.”
The 6-foot-1 Laita actually helped Palisades take the lead at the start.
Laita scored the match’s first two points, both on kills. Setter Chloe Uhls tried to go back to Laita, but one of the referees called Uhls for a double contact violation.
The miscue led to Huntington Beach scoring seven straight points to take control. Sanchez had three kills during the run and Jillian Kim added one, while Mia Christensen served strong. Christensen recorded two service aces, allowing the Oilers to take a 7-2 lead.
The aces kept coming for Huntington Beach in Game 1. Cristina Baily, Alex Altshuler and Jaclyn Sanchez each had an ace.
In Game 2, Huntington Beach produced seven of the first eight points. Kim had two kills, Cami Sanchez had one, and Baily, a lefty, had an ace. Palisades struggled with Huntington Beach’s jump serve, as Christensen collected two aces and Jaclyn Sanchez one in the second set.
The Oilers were on their way to getting out of the opening round of the state tournament for the first time in seven years.
