Mira Costa boys volleyball advances to CIF State final after sweep of Huntington Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH — The Mira Costa boys volleyball team doesn’t typically have as much trouble at home as it did to start Saturday CIF State Division I SoCal Regional final against Huntington Beach.

The Oilers, who were shorthanded coming in due to an illness that sidelined middle blocker Nick Ganier, led by as many as nine early and appeared motivated to avenge two losses this season, including last week’s five-set affair in the CIF Southern Section Division I championship.

“I don’t think we were quite in gear yet,” Mustangs coach Greg Snyder said. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t be.”

Mira Costa, though, mounted a furious rally to avoid dropping its first set of the state tournament and proceeded to roll the rest of the way in a 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 sweep to advance to next week’s championship match.

The state championship will be the battle of top seeds against Archbishop Mitty (41-2) Friday at Fresno City College. The match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

“It would mean everything just to be the first real California state champions,” Mira Costa middle blocker Alex Heins said. “That would be such a cool honor. We all want it so bad.”

The Mustangs (36-2) were led by 16 kills from senior outside hitter Cooper Keane. Senior opposite Grayson Bradford added seven kills to go with 5 1/ 2 of the team’s seven blocks.

Huntington Beach (36-5) led 17-8 at one point before a 5-1 Mira Costa spurt started the comeback.

“I don’t think we took any mental drops,” Bradford said. “We battled back from a point deficit in the first set and in the second set and the third set we just pushed even harder.”

Both Snyder and Oilers coach Craig Pazanti agreed that a first-set injury shortly after to Huntington Beach outside hitter Colin Choi played a big part in the momentum shift.

Choi, who returned in the second set and finished out the rest of the match, turned his left ankle after landing awkwardly following an errant swing that pulled the Mustangs within 21-18. Play briefly stopped as Choi was helped off the floor.

“(Choi) was passing the best on our team at that point,” Pazanti said.

Added Snyder: “Huntington came to play, they always do. Honestly, it was really unfortunate for them with Colin going down in that first set. Really switched the momentum.”

It was part of a 7-1 run that was capped by Mira Costa setter Andrew Chapin’s quick dump to give the team its first lead at 23-22.

The Oilers never reclaimed the lead, as Heins finished off the opening-set comeback with a block.

“We’re just bigger,” Heins said of the size discrepancy. “We’re taller than every team in the country, probably.

“For our seniors, this is the last time in this gym. We just wanted to have a really good game, go out with a bang, make it one to remember. I think we did that.”

Huntington Beach outside hitter Logan Hutnick recorded eight of his match-high 17 kills in the second set. Hutnick also teamed with Choi for a block for a 19-17 advantage.

Mira Costa, though, allowed just one Hutnick kill the rest of the set thanks to a strong block.

Bradford, who stands 6-foot-11, had four of his blocks in the set including set point to stake the Mustangs to the commanding 2-0 lead.

“(Hutnick) is a great hitter, and to go up against a 6-11 blocker isn’t probably what you want to sign up for,” Snyder said.

Huntington Beach never mounted a serious threat in the final set.

Keane, who had nine kills through two sets, was a consistent presence in every frame.

“When Cooper’s on, he is very capable of being the best player in the gym,” Snyder said.