Huntington Beach Sweeps Past Mira Costa in Boys’ Volleyball

Huntington Beach eliminated Manhattan Beach Mira Costa from the Division I boys’ volleyball playoffs for the third consecutive season with a 15-6, 15-10, 15-12 second-round sweep Tuesday.

The defending champion Oilers (18-2) relied on a sturdy block and outstanding back-row defense to wear down Mira Costa (15-5), which has only one senior on its team.

Huntington Beach advances to play fourth-seeded North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals Friday.

The seniors sparked the Oilers. Mike Grave led the attack with 16 kills and Nick Ziegler had 15 kills and eight blocks. Brad Simons had seven blocks and setter Josh Moss had 44 assists.

“It’s good to get it going right now,” Grave said. “We have been in a bit of a slump since we lost to Laguna Beach (on May 2).”

The Oilers, ranked fifth in Division I, needed a fourth game to get past Irvine in the first round, but were in command from the start, never trailing by more than three points.

Huntington Beach scored nine consecutive points in the first game after it was tied, 4-4, then scored six of the last seven points in the second game after 10th-ranked Mira Costa evened the score, 9-9. In the final game, the Oilers fought back from a 10-7 deficit and ended the match with a Ziegler block.