Huntington Beach Falls in Straight Sets in CIF SoCal Regional Division 1 Final to Mira Costa (2025)

Manhattan Beach – Mustang Gym

The Huntington Beach boys volleyball team saw its outstanding season come to an end, as it fell to Mira Costa 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 on Saturday in the CIF SoCal Regional Division 1 Boys Volleyball Finals at Mira Costa High School.

The Mustangs, which beat the Oilers for a third time this season, advance to the inaugural CIF State Final where they will play Archbishop Mitty on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Fresno City College. The Monarchs beat 22-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18.

Huntington Beach ends its season at 36-5.

The first seemed promising for the Oilers, as they took a 9-4 lead after capitalizing on some early mistakes from the Mustangs. The lead ballooned to 17-8 as Huntington Beach had a chance to do what only one other team has done this season – take a set against Mira Costa on its home floor.

But the Mustangs capitalized off of errors from the Oilers to help them get back into the set. Leading 21-17, Huntington Beach committed another error, but also saw junior outside hitter Colin Choi down with a non-contact injury.

Eventually, Mira Costa tied the set at 21-21 and after it was tied at 24-24, it scored the final two points of the set to take the opening set. Mustangs head coach Greg Snyder said that Choi going down with the injury made a difference and probably could’ve seen the Oilers take that first set.

The second set was back-and-forth, as Huntingotn Beach led 16-14 and eventually 19-17, trying to make up for losing the close first set. But Mira Costa closed the set on a 7-1 run to take the set and a 2-0 lead overall.

The third set saw the Mustangs jump out to an 11-7 lead and eventually a 17-9. Try as the Oilers did, they were unable to get any closer than seven points, as the Mustangs sealed the match with a kill from Mateo Fuerbringer after a long rally.

Cooper Keane, a USC commit, led Mira Costa with 16 kills while Grayson Bradford, a UCLA commit, added nine kills and six blocks. The Mustangs went into Saturday’s match without Hawaii commit Thatcher Fahlbusch, who suffered a knee injury in their win over Huntington Beach in the CIF-SS Division 1 boys volleyball final.

The Oilers were led by Logan Hutnick who had 16 kills while Ben Arguello added nine kills. The Oilers did not have the services of senior middle blocker Nick Ganier, who missed the game due to having a fever.

Despite the loss, Huntington Beach’s season was a success, making it to the Southern Section and SoCal Regional Division 1 finals for the first time since 2015. With players such as Hutnick, Arguello and Choi returning next year, the Oilers are sure to contend next year.