No. 2 Orange Coast sweeps No. 3 Irvine Valley; Advances to state championship match
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley
17-5
|
22 | 20 | 15 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast
19-1
|
25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Irvine Valley | Orange Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .013 | .284 |
| Blocks | 3.0 | 6.0 |
| Digs | 27 | 28 |
| Aces | 3 | 2 |
TORRANCE, Calif. --- No. 2 Orange Coast College upended No. 3 Irvine Valley 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-15) in the California Community College Men's Volleyball State Championship semifinal on Thursday afternoon at the ECC Gym Complex in Torrance, Calif.
The Pirates' (19-1) offense dominated as they attacked at a .284 clip compared to a .013 percentage for the Lasers (17-5).
Will Anderson led the way for the Pirates with 10 kills on 21 swings with three errors. Cash Adamsen added nine kills while Josh Friedman (18) and Grayson Kling (12) combined to dish out 30 of the team's 32 assists.
For the Lasers, Jaden Churchill led the way with seven kills with Colin Chillingworth and Griffin Book adding five apiece in the loss. Andrew Perez had 14 assists and state-leader Josh Beymer added two blocks.
The first set proved to be crucial as the Pirates overcame a six-point deficit to claim the frame. The Lasers jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and led 12-6 before the Pirates mounted their comeback. They scored four straight points to cut the deficit to two. The big run came when the Lasers led 16-14 as OCC scored eight of the next nine points to take a 22-17 lead and they never looked back.
The Pirates got five kills from Adamsen and three from Zach Weston in the first. The teams were tied three times and exchanged the lead twice. The Lasers committed seven attacking errors and posted a rough .097 attack percentage, which allowed the Pirates to mount the comeback and take the opening frame.
The Pirates would never trail the rest of the way.
The Pirates never trailed in the second set and outhit the Lasers .323 to .097 in the frame. Anderson paced the offense with four kills in the second and Sam Warren three kills without an error on four swings. Churchill did his best for the Lasers, posting five kills in the set on 10 swings but the rest of the team combined to tally two kills on 12 swings with six attack errors.
In the third frame, the teams were tied twice but the Pirates never fell behind. Once again, the Lasers offense sputtered as they hit at a negative clip with six kills and seven errors on 25 swings.
The Pirates will now head to the championship match on Saturday night against the winner of the Long Beach City/El Camino College match. It will be OCC's 18th trip to the title match in program history. They will be in search of their eighth state title and first since 2017.
The Lasers end the season with a 17-5 overall record.
(Rafael Guerrero, CCCSIA)