Huntington Beach Wins Pivotal Sunset League Match Against Corona Del Mar, Score 3-2 (2025)

Newport Beach – Sea Kings Gym (CdMHS)

The Huntington Beach girls volleyball team kicked off the second half of Sunset League play on Tuesday at Corona Del Mar High School. 

Knowing where they stood in the league standings, the Oilers knew they couldn’t afford a loss, especially against a team, who like them, had aspirations of making the top four in league.

Behind 30 kills from Elli Esko and 25 kills from Addison Williams, Huntington Beach outlasted Corona Del Mar 16-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 15-7 in the team’s second meeting.

In defeating the Sea Kings for the second time this season, the Oilers moved a half game ahead of them in the league standings with five league contests remaining. Only the top four teams can automatically qualify for the CIF-SS Playoffs.

The first set was mostly controlled by Corona Del Mar, as their tough serving caused Huntington Beach fits. The Sea Kings registered five aces and capitalized off the Oilers’ miscues en route to taking the first set.

The second set was a complete flip flop for the most part, as Huntington Beach capitalized off the opportunities Corona Del Mar gave it to run their offense around Esko and Williams. The Oilers were never in any danger, taking the second set and tying the match up at 1-1.

The third set saw Huntington Beach jump out to a 9-6 lead only for Corona Del Mar to score four straight points and lead for the most part in the middle of the set. The Oilers kept feeding the hot hand of Esko and Williams and eventually saw themselves up 24-21, looking to take a 2-1 lead.

But the Sea Kings never wavered as they scored three straight points to tie the set at 24-24. They eventually had their first set point opportunity at 27-26 after dodging five set points from the visitors, and Mckenna Smith dealt the ace to complete the late comeback for her team.

The fourth set saw Huntington Beach jump out to a 9-5 lead only for Corona Del Mar to rattle off five straight points. Trailing 15-12 and needing to get back into the set, the Oilers used a 4-0 run to take the lead at 16-15.

But each time the Oilers had the momentum, the Sea Kings swung it back to them. Trailing 20-18 and being only five points away from defeat, the Oilers closed the set on a 7-2 run to take it and force a fifth set.

Huntington Beach jumped out to a 5-2 lead, forcing Corona Del Mar to use one of its two time outs. The lead ballooned up to 10-5, but the Sea Kings responded with two straight points capped off by a service ace from Myrto Charlabidi.

But after that point, Corona Del Mar never scored again, as the Oilers scored the last five points, capped off by a kill from Williams, as they breathed a sigh of relief.

Amaya Lessley added six kills and four blocks for Huntington Beach while Adrianna McGrath chipped in four kills in the win.

Sofia Dajnowiec and Casi Doll led the Sea Kings with 19 kills each while Matisse Robertson added six kills. Sam Sullivan had four service aces while Dajnowiec and Charlabidi both had three aces for the Sea Kings, who totaled 15 aces overall.