NORWALK – The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team did something in the second set in Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 1 final that was quite rare for it this year.
The Oilers lost the second set to Loyola. It was just their sixth set they’ve lost all season.
What happened over the next two sets is the reason the Oilers are who they are.
“I think we woke up the sleeping giant,” Loyola coach Michael Boehle said.
The Oilers (37-0) hit .452 and .611 in the final two sets to put the finishing touches on a 25-17, 20-25, 25-17, 25-10 victory over Loyola (24-4) at Cerritos College to capture their second consecutive CIF-SS Division 1 title.
“This is definitely satisfying and relieving to come out of here and finish this thing right,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. “I would like to have done it in three, but we had a little breakdown in the second set. But I think we responded well in sets three and four.
“This is a good attribute to what these guys have been doing all year.”
The victory was the 61st consecutive for the Oilers dating to last season and gives them consecutive CIF titles for the second time in the program’s history. The Oilers also won consecutive titles in 1993-94. Pazanti was an assistant coach on that team.
“We couldn’t have played any worse in the second set,” Pazanti said. “I looked up there and we were right there at 23-20. I knew that it was going to be hard to beat us three sets. I think that’s what we’ve been working toward all year long.
“Looking back at it now, maybe it was good for us to make them push and work a little harder.”
The Oilers took the lead for good in the third set, scoring three consecutive points to snap a 7-7 tie.
The fourth set was over quickly as the Oilers went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-3 lead.
TJ DeFalco led the Oilers with 21 kills, hitting at a .543 percentage.
“On the biggest night, two years in a row, TJ has been the best player in the gym,” Pazanti said. “He knows how to bring his A game in the biggest match.
Drake Evans had 11 kills. Ryan Morrissey and Brenden Sander had eight apiece and Andrew Pearson added six for the Oilers.
“We’ve trained and played every game for this moment,” DeFalco said. “It is unbelievable. We finally realized that it is getting to the time of year where we have to fight, push hard and play our best.
“We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. We had to play our game and focus on our side of the court.”
Last year, the Oilers went five sets with the Cubs in both the CIF and SoCal Regional final before winning.
“You’re not going to slow that team down,” Boehle said. “They go after every single ball. You have to give them credit.”
Cole Paullin and Hayden Boehle led the Cubs with nine kills apiece.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
