High School Roundup: Girls’ volleyball league action begins

The race for the 2015 Sunset League girls’ volleyball title begins in full swing Thursday with three matches.

Huntington Beach High is the defending Sunset champion and the Oilers, the 10th-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 1AA, open their title defense at home against Marina. In the other two matches, Edison hosts Los Alamitos (No. 8, Division 1AA), and Fountain Valley travels to Newport Harbor.

Last weekend in La Jolla, Huntington went 5-1 and finished in third place at the Beach Cities Classic. The Oilers scored victories over Murrieta Mesa, Eagle Rock, Esperanza, Santa Fe Christian and Ramona. Their lone loss came in the semifinals to Sunny Slope (Arizona) which took a 25-14, 14-25, 15-13 win.

“I thought, at times, we played some of our best volleyball of the year,” Huntington Coach Craig Pazanti said. “We just need to maintain that level for longer periods of time. We had a breakdown in the third set of the semifinals. When we start to play a little steadier, I think we will be super-tough to beat.”

Huntington enters Sunset League play 16-4 overall.

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Boys’ Water Polo

Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley both collected nonleague victories Tuesday.

Huntington, the fifth-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1, took a 9-3 lead on visiting Montebello and went on to earn a 16-9 victory. Curtis Jarvis led all scorers with five goals, Quinn Simpson scored three goals, and Patrick Saunders had 15 saves for the Oilers.

Montebello is ranked No. 5 in CIF-SS Division 3.

Fountain Valley used a big second half to defeat visiting University, 11-7, at Ocean View High. Kyle Reilly scored a game-high four goals, Ben Schmiesing scored three goals, and Jake Huynen had nine saves for the Barons.

The Barons outscored the Trojans, 8-4, in the second half.

The Sunset League season gets underway Wednesday with a triple header at Newport Harbor High. The first game features Fountain Valley facing Newport Harbor at 5 p.m., followed by the Los Alamitos-Edison (6:05 p.m.) and Marina-Huntington (7:10 p.m.) games.

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Girls’ Golf

Marina upped its Sunset League record to 3-1 Tuesday by defeating Los Alamitos, 201-219, at Meadowlark Golf Course (par 36). Brittney Do and Angela Wu both shot 38 and were co-medalists, and Zahraa Hijara and Brianna Byerley had 39 scores, for the Vikings (7-2 overall).

Marina previously scored a 221-234 victory Sept. 24 over visiting Newport Harbor at Meadowlark (par 36). Do shot a team-low score of 39, and Wu and Hijara both shot 42.

In another Sunset League match Tuesday, Huntington Beach was a 220-240 winner over Fountain Valley at Mile Square Classic Golf Course (back 9, par 36). Huntington junior and team captain Abby Cahill led the Oilers by shooting a career-low (38) for a nine-hole round, and took medalist honors. Sophomores Dylin Myers (43) and Caitlyn Nickerson (46) both shot season lows, and sophomore Ghislaine Jumonville shot a 47 score, in the win.

On Monday, Huntington sophomore Ella Pojak shot a 77 score at the Long Beach Wilson Tournament and placed 14th, overall, among 130 golfers.

Huntington, which last year won the Sunset League title for the first time in program history, is 4-0 in league and 5-3 overall.

In Sunset League matches Thursday, Marina hosts Huntington in a key match at Meadowlark Golf Course, Fountain Valley hosts Newport Harbor, and Edison travels to Los Alamitos.

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Girls’ Volleyball: Huntington Beach (No. 10, Division 1AA)

Boys’ Water Polo: Huntington Beach (No. 5, Division 1); Ocean View (No. 8, Division 6).