Huntington Beach boys volleyball sweeps Corona del Mar, advances to semifinals

HUNTINGTON BEACH – The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team had not played since April 21.

The Oilers showed no rust Tuesday in a three-set sweep of Corona del Mar, 25-23, 25-26, 25-15, in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game at Huntington Beach High.

The Oilers (23-4) will play at home in the semifinals against Mira Costa (31-2), which swept Tesoro in the quarterfinals. Huntington Beach lost to Mira Costa in five sets in last season's CIF-SS Division 1 final. This season the Oilers have lost to Mira Costa twice.

The Mira Costa-Huntington Beach semifinal is scheduled for Saturday, but the match could be moved to Friday.

Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti's son Jake plays for Long Beach State, which is set to face Hawaii in an NCAA men's volleyball semifinal on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. There are also a couple of Mira Costa alums on the Hawaii roster, so Huntington Beach and Mira Costa coaches might be keen to move their match to Friday.

By advancing to the Division 1 semifinals, Huntington Beach has qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional that follows the CIF-SS finals.

Corona del Mar's season might be over. If the CIF-SS sends six Division 1 teams to the CIF SoCal Regional, the Sailors (26-6) could be one of the six.

The Sea Kings finished second to Huntington Beach in the Sunset League. Corona del Mar and Huntington Beach split their two league matches.

Senior outside hitter Ben Arguello on Tuesday had a team-high 15 kills for Huntington Beach. Junior outside hitter Logan Hutnick had 14 kills.

Pazanti wanted to make sure afterward that it is understood that the Oilers have plenty of point-makers, passers and defensive stalwarts. But he did acknowledge Arguello's importance.

"He seems to have some big kills when it matters," Pazanti said. "I haven't seen anybody in Orange County who’s playing better right now."

Pazanti also credited the contribution of senior outside hitter Colin Choi.

"He’s the best passer in Orange County," Pazanti said.

The Oilers are big up front with Hutnick, Kenno Kosty (6-foot-6), setter Carter Tchaikovsky (6-foot-6) and Arguello (6-foot-4), who hits with power.

Tuesday's net battles were terrific, with Corona del Mar having 6-9 Daniel Booker, 6-6 Drake Foley, 6-5 Ben Brown, and 6-3 Hunter Hanneman on the court.

Huntington Beach had an 18-12 lead in the first set when Corona del Mar went on the attack. The Sea Kings caught up at 20-20. The Oilers got the set winner on a kill from Kosty for a 25-23 victory.

Arguello delivered three aces in a row in the second set as the Oilers dominated their way to a 25-16 win.

Tchaikovsky contributed in every way with blocks, kills and assists in the third set that was similarly one-sided.

Arguello's assessment was that the Oilers played a complete game.

"It was just a combination of everything we've been working on the past couple of weeks," Arguello said. "I think our serving was the main thing. I don't think we missed many serves.

"It was just great consistency all around."

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 10:37 PM.