Sage Hill, Huntington Beach to play for boys’ volleyball regional titles

The Sage Hill boys’ volleyball team swept visiting Woodland Hills Taft 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 on Thursday to advance to the CIF State Southern California Division III regional final.

Top-seeded Sage Hill (21-11) will play host to No. 3 seed San Diego Clairemont (28-10) in the regional championship game on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Long Beach State-bound outside hitter Jackson Cryst had 23 kills, six digs, five blocks and two service aces to lead the Lightning, currently riding a season-best 11-game winning streak that has already seen Sage Hill earn the Southern Section Division 4 title with a five-set victory at Santa Barbara on Saturday, May 17.

It marked back-to-back CIF championships for the program, which also won the Division 5 title last season.

Junior outside hitter Ryan Manesh contributed 12 kills for Sage Hill, and junior opposite Dylan Han provided six kills. Junior setter Connor Gapp added nine digs on defense, and freshman libero Ethan McNutt also had eight digs.

Huntington Beach 3, Corona del Mar 1: Junior opposite Ben Arguello had 18 kills to pace the host Oilers in a 23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 win on Thursday in a Division I regional semifinal.

Sophomore outside hitter Logan Hutnick had 15 kills, 13 digs and three block assists for Huntington Beach (36-4), which advances to a CIF finals rematch at Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (35-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The top-seeded Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in the nation, edged the second-ranked Oilers in five sets in the CIF Division 1 title game at Cerritos College on Friday, May 16.

Harvard-bound setter Kai Gan dished out 53 assists for Huntington Beach against CdM (25-7), which placed second in the Sunset League. Junior outside hitter Colin Choi contributed 15 kills and eight digs, and senior libero Aiden Atencio provided 13 digs.

Senior middle blocker Nick Ganier Jr. had seven kills and 2½ blocks. Senior middle blocker Justin Bulsombut chipped in with four kills and four block assists.