Laguna Beach Rolls Past Huntington Beach in Volleyball

For Huntington Beach High School’s volleyball team, it was a rough start to a tough week of matches.

For Laguna Beach, it was the perfect tuneup for the Southern Section 4-A playoffs.

Laguna Beach, ranked third in Orange County, cruised to a 15-11, 15-4, 15-12 victory over fourth-ranked Huntington Beach in a nonleague match Monday night at Laguna Beach.

Eric Fegraus had 16 kills and Chris Seale added 11 as the Artists (14-2) won their 12th consecutive match. They have swept their past five matches.

“We blocked the ball well and I thought Seale played very well tonight,” Laguna Beach Coach Michael Soylular said. “If we play like we did in the first two games, we’ll be hard to beat in the playoffs. And I don’t think that’s a cocky statement.”

Jeff Vanderwal had 14 kills and Troy Wooten added 11 for Huntington Beach, which has matches against Sunset League rivals Fountain Valley on Wednesday and Edison on Thursday. The Oilers (13-2) also play at San Marcos, the defending Southern Section 4-A champion, on Saturday.

Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said he hoped the Oilers play better later in the week.

“We had 27 hitting errors in three games and that’s just too many,” he said. “But Laguna has been playing well. They just beat us tonight.”

Laguna Beach built a 14-7 lead in the first game, but Huntington Beach fought off six game points and cut it to 14-11. Seale finally ended the game with a kill off Huntington Beach’s block.

Huntington Beach hurt itself with 14 unforced hitting errors in the second game as Laguna Beach breezed to a 15-4 victory. The Artists scored 10 consecutive points during one stretch, all on Huntington Beach errors.

Errors continued to plague Huntington Beach in the third game as Laguna Beach built a 9-5 lead that was never threatened. Ciarelli played his second team for part of the third game.

“I didn’t want my starters tired for the league matches Wednesday and Thursday,” Ciarelli said.

Setter David Berney had 45 assists for Laguna Beach. Brad Berberian added nine kills and Darren Gravley three aces.