Huntington Beach Clinches Share of Sunset League Title and 1,000th Win for Craig Pazanti (2025)

Huntington Beach – Chargers Gymnasium

The Huntington Beach boys volleyball made quite a bit of history in their 25-21, 25-18, 26-24 win against Edison on Wednesday at Edison High School.

The Oilers clinched a share of the Sunset League title, marking the first league title for them since 2016, but also earned head coach Craig Pazanti his 1,000th win as head coach. Pazanti’s wins include coaching the girls volleyball team at Huntington Beach and Mater Dei as well as coaching the boys volleyball team at Huntington Beach.

“I don’t think we played super clean, but in this league on the road, you got to be ready to play,” Pazanti said.

After falling behind 11-10 in the opening set, the Oilers used a 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Despite the Chargers’ efforts to try and take the lead after closing the gap to 19-17, Huntington Beach made sure that was as close as they’d get, as they eventually took the opening set 25-21.

The second set saw the Oilers only trail once at 6-5 and used a 5-1 run to break a 9-9 tie and lead 14-10. Edison didn’t waver away, as it got within one on three different occasions.

But the Chargers couldn’t get any closer, as the Oilers clinched the set on a kill off the block from Ben Arguello, winning 25-18.

Determined to extend the match, Edison led most of set three, as it used a 6-2 run to go up 18-14. Connor McNally had two kills during that run to aid the Chargers.

But Huntington Beach eventually tied the set at 20-20 as players such as Colin Choi, Logan Hutnick and Nick Ganier stepped up during the run.

The Oilers took its first lead of the set at 22-21, marking its first lead since 11-10, but the Chargers stayed close trading points until the two teams were tied at 24-24. Huntington Beach eventually closed out the match with kills from Arguello and Ganier and Pazanti raised his left fist in the air knowing that he reached a milestone and his team clinched a share of the league title.

“It’s obviously special. What it really means is that I’m old,” Paznati said when asked about his 1,000th win.

Pazanti also credited all the talented players he’s coached at Huntington Beach and Mater Dei along the way with some playing at the collegiate and professional level.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to coach some really good players. You don’t get to that number coaching a bunch of scrubs. To have the boys and the girls programs successful is a tribute to the athletes,” Pazanti said. 

Arguello led the Oilers with 15 kills while Hutnick added 11 kills. Ganier added nine kills in the win as well.

Edison was led by Nathan King and Ian Joyce with nine kills each. McNally added six kills respectfully. 

Huntington Beach (29-3, 10-0) can clinch the outright Sunset League title with a win at Newport Harbor on Friday. Edison (11-11, 6-4) also returns to action on Friday when it plays at Los Alamitos in a key Sunset League match.