The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team will attempt to add another 40-0 season to the record book.
The Oilers, who are the top seed in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I bracket, advanced to the regional final with a businesslike victory, 25-20, 25-15, 25-22, over visiting Buchanan of Clovis on Thursday night.
Huntington Beach (39-0) will face Loyola of Los Angeles in the regional final at Cerritos College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Loyola defeated Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach in other semifinal.
Huntington Beach and Loyola have met in each of the previous two regional finals with the Oilers winning both matches.
They also met earlier this year in the Best of the West Invitational, the Oilers won in two sets.
“Josh (Tuaniga) has never lost as an Oiler. TJ (DeFalco) is 113-2 now in his career,” Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said of two of his team’s top seniors. “I think it would be fitting for those guys to win in their last match
“As much as these guys have meant to the program and steered in the right direction, I think it would mean a lot for those guys and (that) would mean a lot to me.”
The Oilers increased their winning streak to 103 matches.
Sean Morrissey led the Oilers with 10 kills. Shane Holdaway and DeFalco had nine kills apiece, and Alex Wolf had seven.
Since being pushed to the brink in this past Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 1 final against Corona del Mar, the Oilers have swept both of their matches in the regional playoffs.
They quickly turned their attention to winning the regional title.
“We always have the mindset that we’re 0-0 and that we have a three-game season or four-game season, whatever how long the playoffs are,” DeFalco said. “We just take it one play at a time and we don’t stop until the whistle blows for the last time and that will be Saturday.”
In Division II:
Corona del Mar 3, Clovis North 0: The Sea Kings (30-5) will get a chance to defend their Division II regional title after their 25-15, 25-17, 25-20 victory at home. CdM will face Oak Park in Saturday’s final (5 p.m.) at Cerritos College.
In Division III:
Saddleback Valley Christian 3, St. Margaret’s 0: Noah Dyer had 13 kills and Matt Minsberg added 12 to lead the top-seeded Warriors (30-4) to a 25-20, 25-15, 25-11 victory over the Tartans. This was the third match of the season between the two teams. The Warriors won all three.
SVC will face Laguna Beach (25-9) in Saturday’s final (3 p.m.) at Cerritos College. The Breakers swept Francis Parker of San Diego, 25-18, 25-23, 25-23, in the other semifinal.
The Breakers defeated the Warriors in last year’s regional final.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
