HUNTINGTON BEACH – The depth at the setter position for the Huntington Beach boys volleyball team is being tested so far this season.
Tanner Woods, who started the season and helped lead the Oilers to the Best of the West Invitational title last week, is now out with a broken finger.
Josh Tuaniga becomes eligible April 7 after the 30-day sit-out period for transfers.
Next up is defensive specialist Davis Gillett.
Gillett, a junior, led the Oilers to a pair of victories Friday night in the Orange County Championships. Saturday, Gillett and the Oilers rallied from a first-set loss to defeat San Clemente, 20-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 in the semifinals at Huntington Beach High.
The Oilers (13-0) will meet Corona del Mar (10-1) in the Division 1 final Monday night at Edison. The Sea Kings swept Edison, 25-16, 25-12, 25-21 in the other semifinal.
“He was the backup setter on JV, but he’s been a libero his whole life,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said of Gillett. “That’s saying something that we have guys willing to step up and do what they have to do around this guy.”
The Oilers looked like a team trying to figure things out on the court in the first set. The Tritons weren’t willing to sit around and wait, either. San Clemente never trailed in the first set. Peter Van Liefde had five kills in the opening set.
“I still think we’re learning what’s going on around us,” Pazanti said. “It is not just the fact that Davis is setting, it is we’re doing blocking subs and I have TJ (DeFalco) and Brenden (Sander) setting a little bit. So we have a bunch of guys out there that are playing positions that we haven’t practiced yet. And we’re playing better teams as the tournament goes along.”
The Oilers hadn’t dropped a set before the tournament began. They won both of their matches Friday in four sets.
By the second set, the Oilers started firing on all cylinders. Sander had five kills, pacing the Oilers to the victory to even the match at 1-1.
In the fourth, the Tritons trailed early, but rallied and caught the Oilers at 21-21 on a kill from Shawn Stephens. Ryan Morrissey would give the Oilers the lead for good on a block.
Van Liefde had 13 kills for the Tritons.
This will be the second match of the year between the Oilers and the Sea Kings. Huntington Beach swept Corona del Mar, 25-18, 25-18 in the semifinals of the Best of the West Invitational last weekend in San Diego.
