Huntington Beach – The Huntington Beach High School boys volleyball team fell to Mira Costa 25-22, 25-19, 25-13 on Saturday at Huntington Beach High School in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals.

The Mustangs, last year’s champions, advanced to its third straight CIF-SS finals where they will play Loyola on Friday at 7:30p.m. at Cerritos College. The Cubs outlasted Redondo Union on the road 26-24, 23-25, 25-15, 15-25, 15-7 in the other semifinal.

The Oilers got off to a good start in the opening set, as they took a 19-17 lead after two straight service aces from Carter Tchaikovsky. The deficit didn’t deter Mira Costa, which used a 5-0 run to take a 22-19 lead.

The lead was eventually enough to prevent Huntington Beach from making a comeback, as the Mustangs wound up winning the first set 25-22. In that first set, Mateo Fuerbringer, a junior who’s committed to UCLA, had 9 out of Mira Costa’s 13 kills.

The second set saw Mira Costa lead for the most part, as it led 16-11 at one point. The Oilers never found themselves out of the set, as it drew to within 21-17 after an ace from Tchaikovsky, forcing the Mustangs to use one of their time outs.

Huntington Beach got no closer than that, as Mira Costa took set two 25-19. Through two sets, Fuerbringer had 16 kills for the Mustangs while Colby Graham had six kills – all of which came in set two.

Mira Costa never trailed in set three as its biggest lead was 13. Eventually, the Mustangs won the set 25-13, punching their ticket to their third straight CIF Southern Section Finals under head coach Greg Snyder.

Fuerbriger led Mira Costa with 25 kills while Graham added eight kills. The Oilers were led by Colin Choi, who had 12 kills while Logan Hutnick had 11 kills.

Last Saturday’s semifinal was the third meeting for both teams this year, as Mira Costa won the first two meetings in three sets in the best two out of three format in two different tournaments being the Best of the West Tournament in San Diego and the Clash of the Titans Tournament in Hawaii. In addition, the Mustangs also handed the Oilers their first home loss in almost two years, as the Oilers’ last home loss came on May 14, 2024.   

Despite losing in the semifinals, Huntington Beach, which wound up finishing first in the Sunset League, has qualified for the CIF State Playoffs that’ll start on Tuesday May 19. The bracket will be released this Sunday at approximately noon.