PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Huntington Beach States Its Case

Fountain Valley entered Friday’s Sunset League boys’ volleyball match against fourth-ranked Huntington Beach with an unblemished record, but the Barons left with tire tracks across their backs.

Mike Grave had 14 kills and Jeremy Bart added 11 to help the Oilers run over Fountain Valley, 15-7, 15-12, 15-8 at Huntington Beach High in a battle of the league’s top teams.

Although Phil Domingo had 11 kills and six blocks and Ed Ratledge had 12 kills, the Barons (7-1, 5-1 in league) came out tight and the Oilers (7-1, 6-0) made them pay.

“I think we were nervous early,” Fountain Valley first-year Coach Lori Biller said. “We made a lot of errors we don’t normally make, but Huntington Beach forced those.

“This is a young team--we start six juniors--and this school hasn’t won a league championship in 10 years. I think they have the talent to compete with Huntington Beach. I just have to convince them that they can.”

While Fountain Valley’s talent is green, Huntington Beach (7-1, 6-0) has an experienced group of returners.

Grave and Nick Ziegler, who had six kills and four blocks, both started for the Oilers last season, when they finished 23-0 and won the Southern Section Division I championship. Bart was also a key reserve.

“I think we still have the attitude that we can just show up and win,” Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said. “The kids have to realize that they have to play hard all the time, or we’re going to get beat.”

After an easy victory in Game 1, the Oilers took an 11-5 lead in Game 2 and relaxed.

The Barons seized the opportunity and scored five consecutive points on Ratledge’s serve. Blocks by Chris Kosty and Kurt Seckington helped Fountain Valley draw within one, 11-10.

Fountain Valley made one last run with Domingo blocking Grave to cut the lead to 14-12. But Grave answered with a spike from the left side for a side out then closed out the game with another from the right side.

Grave sat out most of Game 3, so Huntington Beach setter Josh Moss, who had 42 assists, went to Bart for the key points.

Bart had six kills in Game 3, and scored the match-winning point by spiking off of an attempted block by Domingo and Ratledge.

“It’s hard to tell where we’re at right now because we haven’t been pushed in league yet,” Ciarelli said. “But we’ve been playing hard in practice, so that’s the key. Tough practices make the games easy.”

In another league match:

Marina 3, Edison 2--Mike Wirthlin and Marc Aulen each had 23 kills and setter Steve Cavella had 80 assists for Marina, which beat Edison, 15-10, 10-15, 14-16, 15-12, 15-12. Marina improves to 4-6, 4-1.