Beckman Boys’ Volleyball defeats Huntington Beach in five sets in Division 1 quarterfinals – Orange County Register
IRVINE — It wasn’t Beckman’s best game this season in men’s volleyball.
Not even close, according to the Patriots coach. But it was good enough for them to get past Huntington Beach in five sets, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 15-11, in the South Section Division 1 quarter-finals. CIF Tuesday at Beckman High.
Beckman (37-3) will face Loyola in the semifinals on Saturday at Loyola High. Top-seeded Loyola (20-2) beat Redondo in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Huntington Beach finished with a 19-11 record. The Oilers should be a good team again next season. Many of their best players this season weren’t seniors, including 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter Liam Phinizy, a ferocious hitter, and second-year outside hitter Ben Bray and second-year setter Jake Pazanti.
Beckman, who did not play in a CIF-SS men’s volleyball final, was led by senior outside hitter Eli Lee, who had a team-high 23 kills. Junior outside hitter Jack Graves, junior setter Ryan Graves, first-year opposite hitter Luke Morrison, junior middle tackle Noah Huang and junior libero Noah Lee all played at crucial times.
Beckman had to survive numerous service errors and other errors on Tuesday.
“It was the worst game we’ve played all year,” Beckman coach Darin McBain said. “The two sets we lost and even the first two sets we won, we played badly. Our service was absolutely horrible tonight.
McBain said the Patriots might not be in the best frame of mind for such an important game. But he liked the way they finished against what he said was an outstanding Huntington Beach team.
“For the first time, I saw nerves in our children,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see this. But they calmed down and they made the plays when they needed to.
Ryan Graves, who had a team record of seven blocks, agreed that the team’s mental state was lacking early on.
“But I like the way we responded,” Graves said. “We changed our mindset and came together as a team.”
The Patriots needed to be strong at net, given the great skills of Phinizy and the other Oilers.
“It’s something we’ve been working on,” said Ryan Graves. “It’s something we’ve been working on. They (the Oilers) have two very good hitters and we had to stop them. »
Beckman’s only three losses this season were against Mater Dei. They beat Huntington Beach earlier this season in a tournament in March.