No. 1 Pirates sweep past No. 3 Lasers

COSTA MESA -- A battle of two of the top men's volleyball programs in the state turned into a one-sided affair as the Orange Coast College men's volleyball rolled past visiting Irvine Valley in three sets on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym.

Will Anderson had 14 kills, while Cash Adamsen ripped 10 kills of his own as the top-ranked Pirates rolled to a 25-16, 25-21, 25-18 Orange Empire Conference win over the No. 3 Lasers.

Tyler Vedder anchored the OCC defense with eight digs, while setter Josh Friedman dished out 28 assists for the Pirates (15-1, 6-0 in the OEC).

Collin Chillingworth had 10 kills to lead the way for the Lasers (15-3, 4-2).

The win all but sews up the Orange Empire Conference title for the Pirates and a top-seed into the upcoming regional playoffs. That information will be finalized next week as the Pirates wrap up the regular season with two road matches ... at Santiago Canyon on Wednesday (6 p.m.) and at Fullerton on Friday, April 8 (6 p.m.). Coast will host the opening round of the playoffs on Thursday, April 14 with a time and an opponent to be announced following the conclusion of the season.

OCC set the tempo for the night from the opening point and jumped out to an 11-3 lead with five kills from five different players as well as five team blocks over that stretch.

IVC used a 5-1 run to make it 12-8 before Coast pushed the advantage back up to 16-8 with a 4-0 run of its own. From there, the Pirates pulled away and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the set.

The Lasers came out with the momentum early in the second set and led by as many as five at 12-7 and carried a 16-13 advantage before OCC turned up the intensity and scored seven of the next nine points to grab the lead for good. Anderson closed out the second set with three big kills and helped keep the Pirates in front the rest of the way, grabbing a two-set lead in the match.

It was another back-and-forth battle in the third set as Chillingworth led the Lasers with seven of his 10 kills in the third set alone. But, with the match even at 15, the Pirates went to work, ripping off six straight points with two kills each from Anderson and DiAeris McRaven. 

Irvine Valley picked up back-to-back points to pull to within four at 21-17, but a kill by Jake Diddy and back-to-back aces from Landon Tobias all but put the Lasers away for good. Finally, on match point, Anderson capped things off with an emphatic kill to send the Pirates home with their 10th straight victory.