Chargers sweep Oilers
Edison High girls’ volleyball coach Matt Skolnik called his Chargers’ performance in the CIF Southern California Regional Championships against host Huntington Beach on Saturday one of their best of the season.
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the Huntington Beach High School gymnasium who would disagree.
The No. 2 seeded Chargers swept the top-seeded Oilers, their city and Sunset League rivals, by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-13 and advance to the Division 1 state championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
Edison (35-8) will take on Menlo-Atherton, the Northern California champion.
“It was a great time to play one of our best matches of the year,” Skolnik said. “We really focused on ourselves. For us it was just making sure we played well and took care of everything on our side.”
Edison’s Hannah Phair led all players with 17 kills and teammates Taylor Gray and Cassidy Dennison added 13 and nine kills respectively.
Lindsey Sparks finished with 42 assists and 16 digs for the Chargers.
Edison dominated play at the net, where Maggie Gunther led the Chargers with five blocks.
“They outplayed us in every aspect of the game,” Oilers’ coach Craig Pazanti said. “They outserved us. They outpassed us. They outdug us. They outhit us. They outblocked us. Maybe they even outcoaches us.”
The Chargers rarely trailed at any point throughout the three sets.
Huntington Beach (32-5) was ahead 13-11 in the first set when the Chargers went on a 14-5 run to win it.
The second set was more competitive early on.
Edison took an 11-10 lead when the Oilers hit the ball out of bounds.
Phair then served an ace to put Edison ahead 12-10 and the Chargers never looked back from there.
Sparks’ kill in the third set put Edison ahead 7-6, and as in the previous set, the Chargers never trailed again.
The final three points of the set and the match came on back-to-back kills from Phair and an ace from Dennison.
“Sometimes, some players play well and others don’t, but tonight, every single person played great,” Phair said. “I’m so proud of my team.”
Players on both teams received CIF medals and plaques after the match, but Phair said she still wants more hardware.
“We are looking for rings to match our medals,” Phair said.
The senior also feels confident about her team’s chances in the state championship.
“If we played as well as we did tonight, I think we’ll be alright,” she said.
The teams matched up twice in Sunset League play this season with each team winning on the other’s court.
Although it was of little consolation right after the match, Pazanti said it’s good to see a team from Huntington Beach playing for a state title.
“It’s good to see volleyball still near the top of the sporting world in Huntington Beach,” Pazanti said. “You’ve two teams from the same league and the same city. These kids grew up playing with and against each other.”