Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball tops Edison at Orange County Championships

A showcase of the best boys’ volleyball teams in Orange County is taking place this weekend.

Pool play began on Friday, and there was no denying the fact that there was an uptick in energy when host Edison took on Sunset League rival Huntington Beach in the final match of the day.

“You play someone else who is in your league and another school that is in Huntington Beach, there’s going to be energy,” Chargers coach Matt Skolnik said. “They’re a good team. When you play a team like that, it’s usually natural to raise your energy level because you want to beat a team like that.”

After narrowly escaping their first match against Northwood, the Chargers played a great first set of volleyball against Huntington Beach, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll.

It would not be enough in a best-of-three match.

Long Beach State-bound outside hitter Mitchell Bollinger had 11 kills and two service aces, and the Oilers rallied for a 22-25, 25-17, 15-9 victory to win their pool in the Orange County Championships at Edison High.

Setter Aidan Knipe had 26 assists, and middle blocker Ryan Bevington chipped in with four kills and 3½ blocks for the Oilers (12-2).

Bevington was heavily involved in the abbreviated third set. His third block of Game 3 put the Oilers ahead 10-5.

“I started off the first set not playing very good, but then we all got into it during the third set, and it felt good to get some blocks,” Bevington said.

He offered his appreciation for Knipe’s willingness to trust him in setting the middle.

“It feels really good to get some kills because I haven’t been getting set that much, but it’s changing a lot now,” Bevington added. “I’ve just been killing the ball more, seeing the block and hitting around it.”

Shay Douphner served out the final five points of the second set for Huntington Beach. Libero Grant Guinasso had an ace on match point.

This is Huntington Beach’s third tournament this year. The Oilers won the Tesoro Tournament to open the season, and they competed in the Best of the West in San Diego last weekend.

A busy schedule has allowed the Oilers to become familiar with their personnel, including the threat of the left-handed Hunter Dickey at opposite.

“Having a guy like Hunter Dickey on the other side definitely opens up a lot of options for all the other hitters,” Bollinger said of Dickey, who had five kills and a block assist. “Middles have to stay and help with him, as well as his pin blockers have to go his way.

“It opens up a lot of options for the rest of the hitters and makes things easier as a team.”

Edison’s up-and-down day saw the Chargers (5-7) come from behind to beat Northwood 23-25, 25-23, 15-11. Middle blocker Trevor McKay was a key point of attack for the Chargers in that match.

Chargers setter Niko Boone got looks for all of his hitters against the Oilers, handing out a match-high 30 assists.

Outside hitter James Carpenter had a team-high 11 kills to lead Edison. McKay had seven kills, opposite Justin Pennington added six kills, and outside hitter Sam Warren finished with five kills and one block.

“We’ve got a lot of good hitters,” Skolnik said. “When we can pass the ball well enough to use all of them, that’s absolutely the best brand of volleyball that we can play.”

The Gold Division playoff bracket will be played out on Saturday. The finalists will compete in the championship match at Edison on Monday. First serve for the title game will be 6:30 p.m.

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