Pirates go 1-1 at John Altobelli Memorial Quad

COSTA MESA -- With four of the top teams in the state in one gym, the 2023 John Altobelli Memorial Quad lived up to its potential with a day's worth of outstanding competition. For the Orange Coast College men's volleyball team, the Pirates earned a split for the day after sweeping past El Camino in the afternoon before falling to Long Beach City in four sets in the finale, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-13.

In OCC's opening match -- a 25-23, 25-17, 25-22 win over El Camino -- Cole Hauser led the Pirate offense with 10 kills, while Trent Douphner added seven kills and Sebastian Lara pounded six kills to go along with three aces.

Landon Seymour dished out 22 assists, while Tyler Vedder led the defense with five digs, while Douphner and Seymour each added four.

In the opening set against the Warriors (0-2), OCC (2-1) came out swinging and jumped out to a 21-15 lead, only to watch ECC sneak back into the set with a late 10-4 run to get to within one at 23-22. A kill by Hauser made it 24-22 and after a Warrior put-away made it 24-23, El Camino served long to end the threat in favor of the Pirates.

It was a different story in the second set as OCC jumped out to a 16-6 advantage. El Camino got back to within five but never got any closer as the Pirates grabbed the first two sets. 

Set No. 3 looked like Set No. 1 as the Pirates again jumped out early and led 19-13, only to see the Warriors continue to fight. A 7-2 run pushed ECC to within a point at 21-20 before both teams traded points to make it 23-22. Finally back-to-back kills by Hauser wrapped up the afternoon match and gave OCC the win.

In the nightcap against the Vikings -- a rematch between the top two teams in the state from a year ago -- both teams slugged it out and traded leads throughout the opening set. Trailing, 21-18, OCC picked up kills from Douphner and Myles Henderson as well as a block by Elgin Liu to even the set at 21. 

Both teams notched back-to-back points to make it 23-23 before a pair of Pirate errors enabled the Vikings to sneak away with a 25-23 Set 1 win.

It was another tight one in the second set as OCC held a slim 18-17 advantage before a 5-1 LBCC run pushed the Vikings in front for good. Coast got to within a point at 22-21 before three straight Viking points gave the guests a 2-0 set lead in the match.

It was a turnaround for the Pirates in the third set as OCC pushed out to a 21-12 advantage. But, LBCC gathered some momentum and used a 9-3 run to get to within three at 24-21. However, A kill by Sebastian Lara finally wrapped things up in the third set and the Pirates were still alive in the match.

But the roof caved in on the Pirates in the fourth set as the Vikings pulled away from OCC with a 20-8 avalanche and never looked back, taking the fourth set, 25-13. 

Lara finished the nightcap with a team-best 13 kills, while Henderson added seven and Doughner pounded out six. Seymour dished out 30 assists, while Vedder came up with 11 digs.

Coast will see these same two teams on the road with OCC at El Camino on Friday (6 p.m.) and at Long Beach on Wednesday, Feb. 15 (6 p.m.). OCC's next home match will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 against Santa Monica City College, beginning at 6 p.m.