PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Edison Is No Match for Huntington Beach

It took a minute, but Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball Coach Rocky Ciarelli managed to come up with one thing he didn’t like about the Oilers’ performance against Edison Friday night.

“We came out a little slow in the first game,” Ciarelli said. “We weren’t as intense as we should have been.”

From the middle of the first game on, however, Ciarelli had no complaints, and with good reason. Huntington Beach, the No. 3-ranked team in Orange County, rolled to a 15-8, 15-6, 15-7 Sunset League victory at No. 6 Edison.

The Oilers (4-0, 2-0 in league) hit well, passed well, blocked well, dug well and convincingly demonstrated there’s currently a lot of room between first and second place in league.

“We’ve got a lot of talent and they all do a good job,” Ciarelli said. “Our practices are great preparation for any match we play because of our depth.”

Every Huntington Beach player contributed to the victory. The Oilers were particularly effective at the outside hitter position, where Shadd Walker and Mike Graves each had nine kills in 17 attempts to lead Huntington Beach.

The Oilers took advantage of the frequent one-on-one situations outside caused by Huntington Beach’s strength at middle blocker with Nick Ziegler and Chris Swann. With Edison (3-1, 1-1) focusing on stopping Huntington Beach’s middle game, Walker and Graves were set frequently by Chris Atkinson, who had 32 assists.

“Teams have to make a decision on who to stop against us, and when we’re on, they can’t stop all of us,” Ciarelli said. “The outside game should be effective when you’ve got good middle blockers like we have.”

Swann had seven kills and Ziegler five in limited action, as the Oilers went to their reserves early. Huntington Beach’s depth is another factor Ciarelli hopes to rely on frequently during league play.

“We’ll probably do this (play many reserves) most of the time in league,” Ciarelli said. “Everybody gets to play because all our guys can play and help us.”

Edison Coach Eddie Rapp credited Huntington Beach’s ball control and intensity for the easy victory.

“You control the ball and you win, and they did,” Rapp said. “And I think they wanted to win more than we did.”

In other Sunset League matches:

Ocean View 3, Marina 1--Brian Grace had 19 kills and Mike Carne had 10 kills and eight blocks for host Ocean View (3-2, 1-1) which won, 15-8, 15-9, 13-15, 15-12. Marina is 0-2 in league.

Santa Ana 3, Servite 0--John Boyd had 16 kills and four blocks and Carlos Bolanos added 15 kills for visiting Santa Ana (4-1, 1-1), which won, 15-9, 15-8, 15-12. Jose Diaz had 32 assists for the Saints.

In the Garden Grove League:

La Quinta 3, Los Amigos 2--Brad Huss had 28 kills for visiting La Quinta (5-1, 2-0), which won, 15-4, 14-16, 12-15, 15-3, 15-1. Also contributing was Quan Lu with 55 assists and Kevin Doane with 10 blocks. Los Amigos drops to 2-2, 0-1.

In the Sea View League:

Irvine 3, Saddleback 0--Greg Wakeham had nine kills to lead Irvine (3-2, 2-0), 15-6, 15-3, 15-9.

Woodbridge 3, University 0--Kevin Dake had 39 assists and six blocks to lead Woodbridge (2-4, 2-0), 15-3, 15-3, 15-8. Gary Osborne had 18 for the Warriors.

In nonleague matches:

Calvary Chapel 3, Garden Grove 0--Junior Philip Schildts had 21 kills for host Calvary Chapel (2-0), which won, 16-14, 15-9, 15-9. Teammate Matt Wright had 40 assists for the Eagles.