Seahawks, Oilers move on

Opening night of the CIF Southern Section boys' volleyball playoffs saw both Ocean View and Huntington Beach face early challenges Tuesday, but came on strong down the stretch to advance in postseason play.

Ocean View improved to 16-4 by downing visiting Valencia of Placentia, 25-23, 21-25, 27-25, 25-14, in a Division 3 match. Huntington Beach scored a 24-26, 25-15, 25-19, 25-14 win over visiting Harvard-Westlake in a Division 1 opener.

Adam Wills had 39 kills and 31 digs for Golden West League-champion Ocean View. Also making big contributions were Elijah Nolasco with 45 digs, Ralph Cabiltes with five digs and 51 assists, and August Oda with nine kills.

Valencia was the No. 3 team from the Empire League.

"We played a well-rounded match and I am proud of our performance tonight," Seahawks Coach Seth Cutrell said. "Valencia was a tough first-round opponent and they played a solid match. I knew that if would be loud and stayed positive, we could jump on Valencia and get an early lead. Even in game three, when Valencia made a late push and forced us to take a timeout (at 24-24), I knew we were still going to come out on top. Winning game three gave us the push we needed to finish them in game four."

The win advances Ocean View to a second-round match Thursday at Pacific View League champ and sixth-ranked Camarillo, which swept visiting Nipomo (25-15, 25-11, 25-12) on Tuesday.

Sunset League champion Huntington Beach won its 17th straight match and improved to 22-3 by coming from a set down to get past Harvard-Westlake (Mission League No. 3). Edgar Palos had 12 kills and 18 assists, Zach Gates 16 kills and Andrew Tenbrink 14 kills for the fifth-ranked Oilers.

"We came out a little too amped up, and it caused us to play tight in the first set," Huntington Coach Craig Pazanti said. "Once we settled down in set two, we played pretty well. Our passing was the key. When we give Matt (Butler) that many options, we are going to be tough to defend. I thought Edgar did an excellent job of staying real focused, and kept everyone else working the entire match. He was a true leader tonight."

Huntington moves on to play at 7 p.m. Thursday at South Coast League runner-up San Clemente, which defeated visiting Royal, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17). The Oilers defeated the Tritons earlier this season at the Best of the West tournament in San Diego.

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Boys' Golf