Huntington Beach Wins Volleyball Title

Capistrano Valley needed fresh air and Huntington Beach needed a sedative.

Neither team got what it needed, but Huntington Beach got what it wanted.

The hyper-kinetic Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball team used its guts and a three-hour energy-thon to take home its first-ever section Division I boys’ volleyball title.

You wanted it, you got it. Orange County volleyball aficionados were hanging on the edge of their seats for this one, and the showdown didn’t disappoint.

In a weird and wacky Saturday night at Cerritos College, third-seeded Huntington Beach took an exhausting five-game victory over top-seeded Capistrano Valley, 14-16, 15-12, 3-15, 15-7, 15-3.

When the last spike of the night, a soft lob by Chris Swann hit the ground with a deafening thud, all the Cougars could do was throw themselves onto the floor in disbelief as the Oilers celebrated madly on the other side of the net.

“This was very satisfying,” said Huntington Beach setter Chris Jones, a description he later amended to the most important victory of his career.

This wasn’t a volleyball match, it was a test of wills, the result of which came down, not to who wanted it the most, but rather who was left standing to take it.

Not everyone was.

Capistrano Valley’s Aaron Garcia, one of the Cougars’ star players, didn’t play in Game 4 and sat out much of the fifth because of stomach cramps, as the heat in the gym was stifling.

Up until that point, Capistrano Valley (20-1), after its decisive victory in the third game, had settled down and would close it out in the fourth.

But without Garcia, Capistrano Valley had trouble finding its rhythm. Capistrano Valley let a 7-2 lead get away as Huntington Beach scored an improbable 13 consecutive points to force the fifth and deciding game.

“It was just unfamiliarity,” said Capistrano Valley Coach Ken Goldstone. “We were playing hard, but having him out. . . . “

Without Garcia, nothing was as it should have been. The other players could only pick up the slack so much, and weren’t in their usual positions.

Even Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli conceded the absence made a huge difference.

“The fourth game, when Garcia went out,” Ciarelli said of the key to the victory.

But that didn’t make the Oilers victory hollow. Hardly.

“I don’t think so,” said Jones. “I know he and (Eric Seiffert, who had a match-high 37 kills) are their best players, but we were playing well. When we came together, we really played well in the end.”

Huntington Beach (23-0) played like its hair was on fire and there were ants in its pants.

“We’re usually not that emotional, but in playoffs, we really get excited,” Ciarelli said.

The outcome of the game was surprising, partly because Ciarelli was given a red card in the fourth game, but the card only seemed to rile up the Oilers even more.

The Oilers had a balanced attack, Shadd Walker had 24 kills, Mike Grave had 21, Nick Ziegler had 19 and Chris Swann had 18.