Sunset League heats up

Huntington Beach High collected a victory but Edison, Fountain Valley and Marina — the latter at the expense of the Oilers, went down in defeat Tuesday as the second half of the Sunset League boys’ volleyball race got underway.

Huntington went to Marina and picked up a 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 sweep of the Vikings. Senior middle blocker Davey Kim had a team-high 16 kills and five blocks and junior opposite Alexander Anastassiades 10 kills and three blocks for the Oilers, ranked fourth in CIF Southern Section Division 1, who improved to 5-1 in league and 21-1 overall.

Marina slipped to 0-6 in league.

“It wasn’t a great effort,” Huntington Coach Craig Pazanti said. “However, this time of year, it’s sometimes about just getting through on off-nights. We are just starting to get healthy, hopefully for a good run to end the season.”

Edison traveled to Los Alamitos and in a close match that went to the wire, the host Griffins took a 25-19, 20-25, 25-16, 23-25, 15-13 victory. Trent Williams had 22 kills to lead the Chargers who are 3-3 in league and 13-10 overall.

“We played hard but it just wasn’t our night,” Edison Coach Matt Skolnik said. “Los Al is a very good team and we just needed a little more to win the match.”

Fountain Valley hosted first-place Newport Harbor Tuesday and the Sailors, No. 1 in Division 1, maintained their one-match lead in the standings by defeating the Barons, 25-12, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13. Sophomore outside hitter Ben Minch led the Barons in kills and blocks.

Fountain Valley is 1-5 in league and 11-13 overall.

“I really enjoy coaching this team,” Barons Coach Adam Cutrell said. “They are a really good group of young guys that are really starting to figure it out.”

In league matches Friday, Huntington scored a 25-13, 25-19, 25-15 win at Fountain Valley. Junior middle blocker Jake Loudenback had six kills and five blocks for the Barons. Edison took host Newport Harbor to the wire but the Sailors rallied for a 25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 16-14 win. Tyler Power had a team-high 14 kills, William had 13 kills, Jacob Morgan 10 kills, Kyle McCauley nine kills, and Jacob Gilliam and Corey Taylor each had 26 assists in a balanced Chargers attack. Los Alamitos rallied for a 22-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-18 win at Marina.

In boys’ volleyball matches Friday, Ocean View hosts Westminster in a Golden West League match at 4:30 p.m., and at 5:45 p.m., Edison hosts Marina, Fountain Valley hosts Los Alamitos and Huntington travels for a showdown at Newport Harbor.

The Sailors halted Huntington’s national record 121 match winning streak with a 3-1 win April 5.

“This is one we’ve been waiting for,” Pazanti said. “Newport played a great match at our place a few weeks ago, and we are hoping to bring that type of effort Friday. It should be a playoff atmosphere at Newport. These matches are why we play the game.”

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Baseball

Deric Yanagisawa of Fountain Valley has been named head coach of the South team for the upcoming 49th Orange County All-Star Baseball Game presented by the Greater Anaheim Kiwanis Club. Yanagisawa said Wednesday that Huntington Beach head Coach Benji Medure and Dana Hills head Coach Tom Faris will serve as assistant coaches for the South. Greg Pines, head coach at Rancho Alamitos, will coach the North.

The Orange County All-Star Baseball Game is June 7 at La Palma Park in Anaheim.

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Boys’ Golf

Ocean View was upended by host Katella, 252-280, in an Orange League match April 13 at Anaheim Hills Golf Course (par 36). The outcome left the Seahawks and Knights tied for the league lead at 9-1.

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Signings

The following local athletes signed a National Letter of Intent on Signing Day April 13, as released by their respective schools:

Edison: Zach Nelson (The Air Force Academy, men’s swimming); Miranda Thomas (UC Merced, women’s soccer); Amanda Erickson (UC San Diego, women’s soccer); Rachel Flory (Colorado Mesa University, women’s soccer); Emilie Austin (Westminster College, women’s volleyball); Taylor Newton (Texas Christian University, women’s swimming); Bree Marmion (Marist College, women’s water polo); Julie Harrison (Harvard, women’s water polo); Garrett White (Yale, football); Kaz Akamatsu (UC Irvine, baseball); Kiana Pancino (Stanford, softball); Allie Greenburg (Cal State Monterrey Bay, softball); Kayla Neff (Biola University, softball); Alexyss Pawlak (Goucher College, women’s field hockey); Riley Bennyworth (University of Northern Colorado, women’s track and field); Jackie Bento (Northwest University, women’s basketball); Brendan Fix (Azusa Pacific, men’s soccer); Taylor Pennington (San Francisco State, women’s cross-country/track and field).

Huntington Beach: Curtis Coburn (Chaminade University, men’s soccer); Kobie Anton (Loyola Marymount, baseball); Chelsea Mohl (Stanford, women’s beach volleyball); Robbie Esson (McKendree University, men’s water polo); Brett Bennett (UC Santa Barbara, men’s golf); Taigen Hegberg (Coastal Carolina University, men’s golf); Tyler Rule (UC Santa Cruz, men’s cross-country/track and field.

Marina: Joseph Lastelic (UC Santa Barbara, men’s swimming); Daniel Klemm (Drexel University, men’s soccer); Brooke Baeyens (Aurora University, softball); Luka Karaman (USC, men’s water polo); Boris Posavec (St. Francis College, men’s water polo); Luigi Paparella (Wagner College, men’s water polo); Kaitlyn Barry (UC Santa Barbara, softball); Maxwell Cancilla (University of Pennsylvania, men’s tennis); Riley Ohl (Nevada, baseball); Max Melfi (Rocky Mountain College, football); Anthony De La Torre (Avila University, football); Alexandria Cleveland (Campbell University, women’s soccer); Jacklyn Stubbs (Hamline University, women’s soccer); Markie Davis (Southern Oregon University, women’s soccer); Chloe Farmer (Colorado Mesa University, women’s soccer).

Ocean View: Shannon Graham (Concordia University, women’s water polo); Elena Isogawa (Concordia University, women’s water polo).

Mater Dei: Alyssa Rocha (Huntington Beach; Kansas St., women’s soccer); Madisson Christine (Huntington Beach; Beloit College, softball); Nolan Strout (Huntington Beach; Pepperdine, men’s water polo); Benjamin Kane (Fountain Valley; United States Merchant Marine Academy, baseball);

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CIF Weekly Rankings (released Monday)

Boys’ Volleyball: Huntington Beach (No. 4, Division 1); Edison (No. 9, Division 1).