Southern Section Boys’ Volleyball Semifinals : TONIGHT’S MATCHES DIVISION I

Huntington Beach (18-1) vs. Capistrano Valley (18-1), Mission Viejo HS, 7 p.m.

This highly anticipated match features two of the top teams in Orange County. Huntington Beach, tied for first place in the final county poll, has not played this season against Capistrano Valley, ranked second in the final poll after being top-ranked most of the season. A common opponent is Esperanza, which shared the top spot with Huntington Beach in the final poll and lost to North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals. Huntington Beach split two Sunset League matches with Esperanza. Capistrano Valley beat Esperanza in five games in a nonleague match in March. The Oilers have tremendous offensive firepower with outside hitter Evan Hook and middle blocker David McKienzie, a transfer from Long Beach Wilson. The Cougars have a tall starting lineup and are well-balanced. Setter Chris Seiffert distributes the ball well to outside hitters Mike Tully and Ryan Thurlow and middle blocker Brad Leach.

Other semifinal:

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake (20-1) vs. Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (20-1), Redondo Beach Redondo Union HS, 7 p.m.

DIVISION II

Foothill (14-1) vs. Downey Warren (17-0), Lakewood Mayfair HS, 7 p.m.

Fourth-seeded Foothill returned six starters from last season, when it advanced to the second round of the playoffs. “The maturity of the seniors [is key], they really have known what they wanted from the start,” said Coach Pat Manning. Stuart Lambourne, a 6-4 middle blocker, and Ryan Ellis, a high-leaping, 5-10 outside hitter, are the team leaders. “We don’t just have one or two guys that we go to. We’ve developed into a really well-rounded team. We have five people that we can set,” Manning said. Top-seeded Warren has never been pushed to five games this season and in playoffs was pushed to four games only once, against Claremont in the quarterfinals. The Bears, two-time defending San Gabriel Valley League champions, are led by two senior, All-Southern Section selections: outside hitter Robert Tauler and middle blocker Vagele Flevotomos. Adam Sorenson, a 6-6 junior middle blocker, played in only four regular-season games because of lower back pain. He came off the bench in the second game against Claremont to boost Warren to a victory. “He’s feeling pretty good this week so I’m hoping he will last a week,” said Warren Coach Chris Hyatt. Warren lost in the semifinals last season to Calvary Chapel.

Calvary Chapel (15-2) vs. Long Beach Poly (13-3), Long Beach Wilson HS, 7 p.m.

Calvary Chapel has fared remarkably well this season considering the Eagles lost four starters from last season’s team, which advanced to the Division II finals. Much of the credit goes to Jason Mandall, a senior outside hitter. “He is the kind of the guy who stepped up this year,” said Calvary Chapel Coach Chuck Wright. Nate Morton also is strong in the middle and senior Josh Lewis is a threat on the outside. Setter Kevin Rausch broke a finger on his right hand May 13 but remains in the starting lineup. Long Beach Poly lost all six starters and its first two substitutes from last season, when it lost to Calvary Chapel in the quarterfinals. The all-new Jackrabbit squad has come together well in playoffs, upsetting second-seeded Highland in the quarterfinals. Poly is led by Chris Lewis, a 6-2 freshman outside hitter, and Sengly Phuong, a 5-8 junior outside hitter who has averaged 6 1/2 kills in the playoffs.