The men's volleyball team continued their impressive start into the 2023 season. The team currently sits at 6-2, with all of their games so far against non-conference opponents. This past week, the Olympians had victories over Moorkpark College and Santa Monica College before falling to a tough Santa Barbara City College team on Friday.
On Wednesday, February 14, the Olympians defeated Moorpark College 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22. Despite the travel time, in which the coaching staff showed concern about coming out flat, the Olympians didn't disappoint and played a great first and second set defensively. The team had 7 blocks and 20 digs in the first two sets. The performance by the defense is the standard the coaching staff wants to see every game.
With a handful of unforced errors in the middle, the Olympians dropped the third set 19-25. Moorpark served well and kept the momentum on their side, expanding their lead at one point 12-19. Although the team tried to rally back after a timeout, Moorpark played perfect to capture the third set.
The fourth set was a battle with 7 lead changes. TJ Letuligasenoa led the team with 10 kills on 17 attempts, and was timely in the 4th set with 3 kills on 6 attempts. Letuligasenoa's serves were also impressive with a 2.67 out of 3 passer rating during the fourth game.
Ricardo Lorja also had a great match: 5 kills, 9 attempts, 1 error ( .444 hitting efficiency). Lorna's "plus/minus" stats was the highest on the team at a plus 8.
With the first victory in hand, the team only had thirty-minutes to prepare for their next match against Santa Monica College. The coaching staff was concerned of the players stiffening during the break. "We have played a lot of volleyball over the past 3 weeks," states head coach David Proffitt. "Two of those dates were double headers and I have been noticing the wear and tear the guys have been enduring. At the start of the match vs. Santa Monica College it was clear that they were a little tired both physically and mentally."
The Olympians dropped the first set 28-30 which included ties at 19-19 and 24-24. Mikey Whalen and Colton Pillsbury both led the team when down 20-24 to even the match at 24-24. However, Santa Monica College in the end pulled away, closing the set at 28-30.
The second set was another close battle where Mesa had leads at 6-2 and 14-10. Santa Monica closed the gap at one point in the set to 18-17, but Mesa was able to grab the set at 25-20.
At one set a piece, the third set plays an important role in setting the tone. The beginning of the set neither team could separate from each other. However, Santa Monica's level of play went up a notch building a 7 point lead at 9-16. The coaching staff decided to make some necessary substitutions by placing Colton Pillsbury at setter and Aaron Cox at opposite. "I could not have been more proud of the performance by Colton and Aaron," adds Proffitt. "They are both so deserving of more playing time and they definitely showed everyone why." At 9-16 in the match, Pillsbury made a huge open net dig that led to a huge kill by Cox that electrified the team, which is exactly what the team needed.
Cox followed that kill up with a straight down solo block that had everyone up off of their seats and running up to the edge of the court. At 13-18 Cox got another kill bringing the score to 14-18.
Although the team dropped the 3rd set, the coaching staff believe that they found a combination that will work leading into the 4th set.
"I told the guys that we are the better team in my mind. We've done everything we can to prepare for this grind and schedule," adds Proffitt. "This was the time for us to dig down and show what we are truly made of.
Colton Pillsbury led the team with 11 assists while running out middles 9 times resulting in 6 kills, 3 by Santiago Mantovani and 3 by Ricardo Lorja. Jorge Hernandez also had 3 kills on 9 attempts.
In the fifth and final set, the Olympians came out firing and built a 4-0 lead. The squad continued to play inspired and held a 4 to 5 point lead the entire set before closing it at 15-11. Jorge Hernandez had 4 kills out of 7 attempts, 1 error, a .429 hitting efficiency. Pillsbury had 7 assists in the fifth set.
The team was back on the road on Friday to take on Santa Barbara City College. The 3 hour and 40 minute drive definitely impacted the team in the first set. Despite having played 4 matches in 5 days, the coaching staff continue to experiment with the line-up and are confident this part of the schedule will best serve the team in the long run.
With opposite hitter Austin Kinnear not in the line-up, the coaching staff ran with a new system using both setters. "I think with this squad it can work," adds Proffitt. "We just we just couldn't get into a flow with it this time around. We struggled in server receive at the very beginning of the first game and that just set a tone for the rest of the match. We rallied and played well in both sets 2 and 3 but just couldn't get it going."
Santa Barbara City College swept the Olympians 14-25, 21-25, 18-25. "They really came out firing on all cylinders, adds Proffitt. "We have not faced an opponent that was clicking that well yet and I think we were a little shocked. Jordon Dyer and his staff have got their team rolling and they will make a tough opponent for anyone in the Western State Conference."
Although the team lost to Santa Barbara City College, the coaching staff is using this as a teaching tool for the team. Besides having new film to review, it also emphasized the need to be in the best possible shape and also highlight what needs to be done in the gym. "We had been on a 6-game winning streak until this loss and I think the guys were a little too comfortable and lazy," adds Proffitt. "Hopefully this will make us refocus as we now start the path to playoffs with the beginning of OEC-PCAC Mandatory Crossover matches which will be worth 2 RPI points toward making the CCCAA State Playoffs at the end of the season."
WHAT'S NEXT
OEC-PCAC Mandatory Crossover Matches between out conference PCAC (Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) and the OEC (Orange Empire Conference) will be played on the following dates.
Wed. Feb. 22nd vs Irvine Valley at SD Mesa College 6:00 pm
Fri. Feb. 24th vs Orange Coast College at SD Mesa College 6:00 pm
Wed. Mar. 1st @ Fullerton College 6:00 pm
Fri. Mar. 3rd @ Golden West College 6:00 pm
Wed Mar. 8th vs. Santiago Canyon College 6:00 pm