PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Edison Topples Huntington Beach

After watching his boys’ volleyball team upset top-ranked Huntington Beach Wednesday night, Edison Coach Brian Rofer wasn’t about to rate the Chargers as Orange County’s best.

“If we do wind up ranked No. 1 you won’t find me reading about it,” Rofer said. “What does it mean? One day you’re up and the next day you’re a dog.”

The third-ranked Chargers were up Wednesday, cruising to a 16-14, 15-8, 12-15, 15-9 victory in the Sunset League opener for both teams at Edison’s gym.

Edison (4-1 overall, 1-0 in league) avenged its loss to Huntington Beach earlier this month in the Dos Pueblos tournament final.

“Our outside hitting and our blocking had a lot to do with our win,” Rofer said.

Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said Edison is the best team the Oilers have played this season.

“We beat (second-ranked) Woodbridge and Edison beat us,” Ciarelli said. “I think Edison is probably No. 1.”

Karl Van Reusen and Steve Snyder each had 17 kills for Edison. Snyder had four kills, including three aces, in an 8-0 run to open the second game and added six kills in the final game.

“Steve got a little dehydrated in the fourth game and I had to call a timeout,” Rofer said. “I told him he had to pull a little harder and he did.”

Steve Lucas had 16 kills and Doug Cunningham had 11 for Huntington Beach, the defending league champion. The Oilers (4-1, 0-1) played without starting outside hitter Matt Taylor, who is out with a hernia injury until Easter.

“We didn’t get a particularly good match from Doug,” Ciarelli said. “And when we’re missing Matt, that means a lot. Edison keyed a lot of blocks on Doug and our other players didn’t pick it up.”

Edison’s supporting cast included Joe McCarthy (10 kills, two ace serves), Jason Curry (10 kills), Daryl Ayers (eight kills) and Aaron Boone (five kills).

“I told the kids before the game ‘You’re in the upper echelon now, with Huntington Beach and Mira Costa,’ ” Rofer said. “I told them that I can’t coach that. They had to find it within themselves to play at that level.”

On Wednesday night, they did.

In another Sunset League game:

Ocean View 3, Fountain Valley 0--Chris Hocker had 15 kills and Greg Evans had 12 kills to lead visiting Ocean View (6-3, 1-0) to a 15-10, 15-12, 15-12 victory.

In the Empire League:

El Dorado 3, Cypress 0--Jerome Facione had nine kills to lead host El Dorado (3-2, 1-0) to a 15-2, 15-5, 15-6 victory.

Esperanza 3, Santa Ana 0--Jason Galeener had 12 kills and Rocky Jones had 10 for host Esperanza (9-0, 1-0) in a 15-12, 15-8, 15-5 sweep.

Foothill 3, Los Alamitos 0--Jeff Janis had 10 kills as host Foothill (5-1, 1-0) swept, 15-4, 15-7, 15-2.

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 3, Santiago 0--Paul Price and Chris Doherty each had 11 kills as host La Quinta (6-1, 5-0) swept, 15-7, 15-6, 15-6.

Rancho Alamitos 3, Garden Grove 0--Richard Pierce had 15 kills and six blocks to lead host Rancho Alamitos (5-6, 4-1) to a 16-14, 15-4, 15-7 victory. Garden Grove is 3-2 in league.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Trabuco Hills 3, Costa Mesa 0--Greg Stone had 10 kills to lead Trabuco Hills (6-5, 2-3) to a 15-3, 15-9, 15-9 victory at Costa Mesa (0-5 in league).

In nonleague:

Valencia 3, Whittier Christian 0--Jeff Rick had 12 kills to lead host Valencia (7-5) to a 15-8, 15-10, 15-12 victory.