HUNTINGTON BEACH – The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team had not played since April 21.
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The Oilers showed no rust Tuesday in a three-set sweep of Corona del Mar, 25-23, 25-26, 25-15, in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game at Huntington Beach High.
The Oilers (23-4) will play at home Saturday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals against Mira Costa (31-2), which swept Tesoro in the quarterfinals.
Huntington Beach lost to Mira Costa in five sets in last season’s CIF-SS Division 1 final. This season the Oilers have lost to Mira Costa twice.
Corona del Mar (26-6) finished second to Huntington Beach in the Sunset League.
Senior outside hitter Ben Arguello had a team-high 15 kills for Huntington Beach. Junior outside hitter Logan Hutnick had 14 kills.
Oilers coach Craig Pazanti praised all of team’s point-makers, passers and defensive stalwarts, including Arguello.
“He seems to have some big kills when it matters,” Pazanti said. “I haven’t seen anybody in Orange County who’s playing better right now.”
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Pazanti also credited the contribution of senior outside hitter Colin Choi.
“He’s the best passer in Orange County,” Pazanti said.
The Oilers are big up front with Hutnick, Kenno Kosty (6-foot-6), setter Carter Tchaikovsky (6-foot-6) and Arguello (6-foot-4), who hits with power.
Tuesday’s net battles were terrific, with Corona del Mar having 6-9 Daniel Booker, 6-6 Drake Foley, 6-5 Ben Brown, and 6-3 Hunter Hanneman on the court.
Huntington Beach had an 18-12 lead in the first set when Corona del Mar went on the attack. The Sea Kings caught up at 20-20. The Oilers got the set winner on a kill from Kosty for a 25-23 victory.
Arguello delivered three aces in a row in the second set as the Oilers dominated their way to a 25-16 win.
Tchaikovsky contributed in every way with blocks, kills and assists in the third set that was similarly one-sided.
Arguello’s assessment was that the Oilers played a complete game.
“It was just a combination of everything we’ve been working on the past couple of weeks,” Arguello said. “I think our serving was the main thing. I don’t think we missed many serves.
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“It was just great consistency all around.”