Mira Costa Is Stuffed in Its Bid for Finals : Volleyball: Huntington Beach rallies in fourth game and puts away the second-seeded Mustangs.

Mira Costa High setter Zane Smythe didn’t have problems pinpointing the areas in which the Mustangs needed improvement against Huntington Beach Wednesday night.

The senior, however, will have plenty of time to dwell on the mistakes after Mira Costa was defeated by the Oilers, 15-10, 7-15, 15-13, 16-14, in a Southern Section Division I semifinal match at Redondo High.

“We weren’t putting the ball away like we do against other teams,” Smythe said. “They blocked really well and we had to work really hard to just score a point.”

Leading, 14-9, in the fourth game, second-seeded Mira Costa (21-1) was unable to score a point to force a fifth game.

The third-seeded Oilers rallied for six consecutive points to earn its second consecutive appearance in a Southern Section championship.

Last season, Huntington Beach defeated Mira Costa in a five games in a 4-A semifinal match at Fountain Valley High before losing to Santa Barbara in the final.

The loss also denied Mira Costa of a chance for its third Southern Section title and first since 1990.

Huntington Beach (22-0) will play Capistrano Valley (20-0) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Cerritos College. The Oilers have won 66 of their last 69 games.

Mike Grave had 16 kills, Nick Ziegler 15 and Shadd Walker 13 for Huntington Beach, which also overcame a 13-11 deficit to win the third game. That game featured six lead changes and seven ties.

Mira Costa trailed, 8-5, but tied the score, 8-8. The Mustangs broke an 11-11 tie to take a 13-11 advantage with the help of two kills by Matt Walker and a double hit by Huntington Beach.

“Volleyball is a game of ebb and flow,” Mira Costa Coach Mike Cook said. “We rebounded pretty well after the third game. Each team had shifts of momentum, but they had a little more on their side.”

The Oilers scored the first six points of the match en route to an 8-1 lead in the first game. The Mustangs withstood three game points, closing to 14-10 on a service ace by Ali Penland before falling.

Outside hitter Matt Walker had 29 kills and middle blocker Chris Walmer 23 for Mira Costa, which had not lost a game in the playoffs before Wednesday’s match.

Walker and Walmer had seven and five kills each in the second game.

Mira Costa built a 5-0 lead in the second game, but Huntington Beach rallied to 6-3. The Mustangs then took charge and built an 11-3 advantage on a kill by Brad Griebenow.