Huntington Beach Still Rolling

In just a few weeks, the top-ranked Huntington Beach girls’ volleyball team has transformed itself from a preseason question mark to a measuring stick against which the best teams in the county must rate themselves.

No. 3 Dana Hills mounted one of the best attacks the Oilers have faced this season but fell short Tuesday in a nonleague match at Dana Hills. Huntington Beach won, 15-13, 15-8, 11-15, 16-14, to improve its record to 4-0.

The Oilers were led by Dana Atkinson, who had 16 kills. Atkinson had three consecutive kills to lead the Oilers back from a 14-12 deficit in the fourth game and bring up match point.

Huntington Beach setter Allison Ciarelli served a winner on match point for the victory.

Many wondered how the Oilers would fare this season after losing star outside hitter Melissa Wendt. Huntington Beach answered that question by winning the Saturn of Orange County Championships last weekend in Division I.

“I think we have a lot more consistency. We don’t have a big gun, but we have the all-around players,” Ciarelli said.

Huntington Beach stumbled in the third game, when Dana Hills scored nine consecutive points to work its way out of a 6-0 hole, before winning the game.

“I feel that we have a lot of things we can still work on and that’s encouraging,” Dana Hills Coach Dave Hollaway said. “We made mistakes that we shouldn’t make.”

Dana Hills (2-1) jumped to an 8-3 lead in the fourth game, but Huntington Beach came back to tie it, 10-10, and again, 12-12. The Dolphins took a 14-12 lead on two Oiler errors, then squandered two game-point opportunities before the Oilers rallied.

Jami Bari, who was expected to shoulder the load of setting duties this season, moved to hitter and led Dana Hills with 17 kills. Jenny Wilson was effective for the Dolphins against standout Oiler middle blocker Julie Hinsche, who had 14 kills.