CIF Rejects Oilers’ Plea for Playoffs

The Huntington Beach girls’ volleyball team and its supporters were told Tuesday that their 11th-hour plea to be considered for an at-large berth to the State tournament had been rejected by the CIF.

Huntington Beach, which was top-ranked in the state throughout the season, lost to Newport Harbor Nov. 11 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section tournament.

Co-Coach Rocky Ciarelli said his team should have been considered for an at-large berth to the State tournament, along with the other section quarterfinalists, because the section guidelines read: “Teams for consideration will be division runner-ups, semifinalists and quarterfinalists.”

Potential teams then are evaluated on the basis of 10 criteria.

But Karen Hellyer, assistant commissioner of the Southern Section, said Huntington Beach (23-1) was never considered. Based on the criteria, the section awarded the at-large berth Sunday to Mater Dei (20-3), the Division I semifinalist, over Newport Harbor (12-6) and Cerritos (17-4), the Division IV runner-up.

Ciarelli and Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn called Hellyer to complain Monday before filing an official protest with the CIF state office Tuesday.

“It’s not a personal thing, it’s just that the [Southern Section] sets up something and they are supposed to follow it,” Ciarelli said. “I feel we’ve been wronged.”

A CIF hearing committee for the State tournament met with Ciarelli Tuesday to review his complaint.

State tournament director Sheri Ross, who also is the girls’ athletic director at El Toro High, also said the hearing committee asked the Southern Section to refine the wording on its guidelines to avoid confusion in the future.