Esperanza Repeats Feat, Beats Huntington Beach

Just in case anybody thought its Orange County boys’ volleyball tournament championship this month was a fluke, second-ranked Esperanza defeated third-ranked Huntington Beach on Wednesday, proving its previous victory was no accident.

The Aztecs won, 15-9, 12-15, 15-10, 16-14, at Esperanza in the Sunset League opener for both teams.

When the Aztecs defeated the Oilers in the tournament final, the Oilers were missing one of their best players, Evan Hook.

Hook was in the lineup on Wednesday and he gave the Aztecs plenty of trouble--especially near the end.

Esperanza led, 14-3, in the fourth game before Hook had seven kills to spark Huntington Beach to within, 14-13, and Tyson Russell served an ace to tie it.

But Huntington Beach sent its next two serves into the net, getting one sideout in between on a kill by Hook.

“We made some critical errors at critical times,” Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said.

Kyle Anderson and Dan Harrington blocked David McKienzie to give Esperanza another point, 15-14. The Oilers were in no mood to give up, but Justin Dalton dived into the Aztec bench for a dramatic dig, Jason Dillard set the ball and Jon Alleman sent it over. The Oilers scrambled to retrieve it, but Hook hit it into the net to end the game.

“I thought I better get this up or they are coming right back. They had all the momentum,” Dalton said. “That’s a big win.”

It was the Aztecs’ first league victory over the Oilers since joining the league before last season.

“Huntington Beach is a class volleyball team and we want to be able to play with anybody and I think the kids have proven that they can,” Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten said. “We want to win our first Sunset League championship.”

The Aztecs have a good shot, but Huntington Beach will have something to say about it before the season is over. For now, however, the Oilers have been silenced.

“They’re beating us, so there’s not much we can say except they’re winning,” Ciarelli said.

Alleman led Esperanza, 6-1 and 1-0 in league, with 17 kills and Harrington had 15. McKienzie had 23 kills for Huntington Beach (6-1, 0-1) and Hook had 22.

In other Sunset League matches:

Edison 3, Los Alamitos 0--Kai Parker had 11 kills for Edison (3-2, 1-0) which won, 15-8, 15-5, 15-8.

Fountain Valley 3, Marina 0--Casey Brewer had 23 kills for visiting Fountain Valley (4-3, 1-0), 15-8, 16-14, 15-4.

In the Empire League:

Western 3, Cypress 1--Steve Sieks had 15 kills and Vince Branstetter 13 for Western (6-1, 1-0), which won, 15-11, 8-15, 15-6, 15-11.

Valencia 3, Loara 0--Rick Black had 10 kills for visiting Valencia (7-2, 1-0), which won, 15-1, 15-9, 15-13.

In the Garden Grove League:

Garden Grove 3, Los Amigos 1--Ryan Clarkson had 19 kills and Phuc Bo had 17 kills in a Garden Grove victory, 15-11, 10-15, 15-11, 15-11.

In the Pacific Coast League:

Aliso Niguel 3, Laguna Hills 2--Aliso Niguel rallied from a two-game deficit and won, 10-15, 15-10, 15-17, 15-3, 15-10. Andy Portillo had 14 kills and Cory Chandler had 11 for Aliso Niguel (6-3, 1-0). Jon Marshall had 12 kills for the Hawks (4-3, 0-1).

University 3, Estancia 0--Donald Chen had nine kills for visiting University (3-4, 1-0) which won, 15-6, 15-2, 15-10.