Cougars Make Adjustments, Beat Oilers

Huntington Beach’s best player stood on the sideline with crutches, but the Oilers still fought their way to the brink of an improbable upset of third-seeded Capistrano Valley.

But after losing the first two games, Capistrano Valley tweaked its lineup and the Cougars came roaring back to win their Southern Section Division I boys’ volleyball quarterfinal match in five games Friday at Capistrano Valley High.

Junior Beau Rawi moved to middle blocker for the final three games and finished with a team-high 26 kills to help spark the Cougars to a 10-15, 13-15, 15-10, 15-9, 15-7, victory.

Ryan Thurlow had 23 kills and middle blocker Brady Starr added 14 kills and six blocks for Capistrano Valley, which advanced to the semifinals to play second-seeded Simi Valley Royal, which defeated Thousand Oaks, 15-13, 15-12, 5-15, 15-5.

Early in the match, it didn’t look as if Capistrano Valley (18-1) would reach the semifinals.

Although Huntington Beach (17-4) played without outside hitter Dave McKienzie, who sprained his ankle before the team’s second-round match, the Oilers still won the first two games with Caleb Guimaraes (30 kills), Steve Cincotta (15 kills) and Lyle Carlson (15 kills) picking up the slack.

“I think we came in playing like we had nothing to lose,” Huntington Beach Coach Rocky Ciarelli said.

Facing a two-games-to-none deficit, Capistrano Valley Coach Darren Utterback moved Rawi from his opposite spot to a middle blocker.

“After the first two games, we could see that there was no way we were going to win with that lineup,” Utterback said. “We took a chance [changing the lineup] tonight and we got lucky,”

Rawi had three kills and a block to help the Cougars forge ahead, 11-7, then he closed out Game 3 with a kill from the middle and Capistrano Valley was back in the match.

The Cougars raced to 11-2 and 14-6 leads in Game 4, but they needed eight game points before closing that one out. Setter Jay Monson (72 assists) led the Cougars to an 8-2 lead in Game 5 and the Oilers never drew closer than two points before ending the match on two errors.

In other Division I matches:

Esperanza 3, Glendale Hoover 0--Jon Alleman and Dan Harrington each had 15 kills as Esperanza defeated Glendale Hoover (11-5) in the quarterfinals, 15-1, 15-7, 15-7. Justin Dalton had 47 assists for the Aztecs (17-1).

Esperanza plays Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in the semifinals.

In Division II:

Santa Margarita 3, Servite 0--Nick Mauro had 18 kills for the Eagles (17-2), who won, 15-2, 15-9, 15-7. Santa Margarita advanced to play Torrance Bishop Montgomery in the semifinals.

Servite ended 11-8.

In Division III:

Corona del Mar 3, Laguna Beach 2--The visiting Sea Kings (11-7) rallied to upset the top-seeded Artists, 15-12, 9-15, 11-15, 15-8, 15-8. Blair Hoppe had 28 kills and Brady Beauchamp had 84 assists for Corona del Mar, which advanced to play fourth-seeded Calvary Chapel in the semifinals Wednesday.

Miles McGann had 23 kills for Laguna Beach (13-4).