Huntington Beach Outshines No. 1 Esperanza in Boys’ Volleyball

Wearing bright Orange shirts so loud they might glow in the dark, the Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball team turned out the lights on top-ranked Esperanza Saturday in the Division I final of the Orange County Championships.

Huntington Beach won, 15-13, 15-12, at Marina High to capture its third Orange County tournament title. Dana Hills defeated Tustin, 17-15, 15-8, in the Division II final at Huntington Beach High.

Huntington Beach, ranked No. 2 in the county, fell behind, 13-11, in the first game, but came back to tie it, 13-13, behind two kills and a block by Caleb Guimaraes.

Guimaraes, who sat out last season after transferring to Huntington Beach from Brazil, then scored an ace to bring up game point and David McKienzie won it with a kill.

The Oilers jumped to a 4-1 lead in the second game before the Aztecs got as close as one point, 12-11. But that’s when 5-foot-10 Oiler Dennis Masuda came up much bigger than his listed height, blocking Esperanza’s 6-3 Dan Harrington for a point.

Esperanza’s Chad Willardson had a block for a point but then an Aztec hitting error brought up match point for the Oilers and Masuda again blocked Harrington to win it.

Masuda was named the Division I most valuable player. Guimaraes led Huntington Beach with 12 kills and McKienzie had 11.

For Esperanza, the final came after a long day in which it had been pushed to three games by Newport Harbor in the quarterfinals and Santa Margarita in the semifinals.

“That’s a lot of games to play,” said Oiler Coach Rocky Ciarelli, whose team swept Edison in the quarterfinals and Corona del Mar in the semifinals. “We had an advantage, there’s no doubt. I don’t think that’s any indication of what will happen in [Sunset] League.”

The Aztecs also were without the services of starting middle blocker Kyle Anderson, who injured his ankle playing basketball the night before the start of the tournament.

“We had to make a little bit of a quick adjustment and [Willardson] grew up pretty fast,” Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten said. “He did an outstanding job for us all day.”

Harrington had 11 kills for Esperanza and Jason Dillard added 10.

Jim Polster of Dana Hills was selected most valuable player of the Division II tournament.