Fountain Valley Girls Get Piece of Title

The Fountain Valley girls’ volleyball team looked inward Tuesday, and came out big, defeating Huntington Beach, 15-11, 17-15, 16-18, 15-4, to clinch a share of the Sunset League title.

With one match remaining, Fountain Valley, 13-2, improved to 8-1 in league and Huntington Beach (15-2) fell to second place, 7-2.

Confidence was key for the Barons, who played in front of a hostile crowd of about 600 at Huntington Beach High in a match that lasted more than two hours.

“What I told the players was not to even look into the stands the entire match, just to keep focusing on the team,” Fountain Valley Coach Lori Biller said.

Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach share the No. 1 ranking in the county.

In a critical second game, the Oilers squandered 10 game-point opportunities, allowing the Barons to come back from a 14-8 deficit to tie it, 14-14, on a block by Kristin Deatherage. The score was tied again, 15-15, before Baron Larissa Carter stepped out for a kill and a point. The Barons won the game on an Oiler hitting error.

The Oilers served for game point at 14-13 in the third game, but Melissa Plass had a kill for a sideout.

Tied, 16-16, Huntington Beach scored on a Fountain Valley net violation before Lori Daedelow and Lauren Wilson combined on a block to win the game.

But the Barons jumped to a 6-1 lead in the fourth game and never looked back.

Fountain Valley previously lost twice to Huntington Beach this season.

“We have a lot more confidence in ourselves,” said senior setter Carla Miali, who was a freshman defensive specialist the last time Fountain Valley won the league title in 1993. “At [the beginning of the season], we knew we had the physical ability, but we didn’t know if we could use it on the court, and now, it’s like, ‘We got it, let’s go.’ ”