CCCMVCA poll sees little movement as season charges on

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IRVINE - Undefeated Orange Coast received every first-place vote for the fifth week in a row and stayed at the top of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association Poll.

OCC swept Fullerton in its lone match last week. The Pirates continue to get contributions from all around with four players averaging at least two kills per set, led by Myles Henderson at 3.04 per set.

San Diego Mesa, ranked No. 3, in the state, and No. 5 Long Beach City are also on a roll right now.

The Olympians have won five straight matches. They swept both No. 8 Grossmont and No. 10 Miramar in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference contests. In the win over Miramar last Friday, Trevor Clark led the offense with 12 kills. He hit .500 and added seven digs. And Logan Shepard and Colton Pilsbury each finished with 17 assists. The setting duo Long Beach City has won seven matches in a row after starting the season 0-5. And the Vikings have sweeps in their last three contests. They swept Antelope Valley and El Camino at home last week. Four players had at least five kills in the win over El Camino. Shane Nhem finished with 11 kills and Lucca Mamone had nine kills and hit .500. Willy Want ran the offense with 28 assists and Anthony Wong-Orantes had a team-best 11 assists.

In one of the top matches of last week, previous No. 4 Irvine Valley defeated No. 2 Golden West in five sets at Golden West on Wednesday. All five sets were close with Golden West winning the third set, 29-27, and Irvine Valley claiming the final two sets, 26-24, 15-13. 

The two teams are tied for third in this week’s poll.

In the epic five-set match, Grant Dvorak paced IVC with 14 kills, a .407 hitting percentage, 25 assists and seven digs. Damon Kooiman added 12 kills and eight digs and Riley Hurdiss had eight kills with no errors and added six blocks.

For Golden West, Curtis Harper and Reggie Ah-hong each had a match-high 17 kills and Jaden Kodongan ended with 36 assists.

There is another tie in the poll this week with Santa Monica and Moorpark both in the sixth spot. Santa Monica won its third match in a row and fifth in its last six contests with a sweep of Antelope Valley on Friday. Santa Monica had five players with at least five kills, led by Bryce Bowsher with 10 kills. Zach Fuentes chipped in eight kills and hit .667. As a team, the Corsairs hit an impressive .522 in the match. Jason Walmer ran that stellar offensive effort with 38 assists.

Moorpark won its third straight match with a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22) triumph at No. 9 Santa Barbara last Friday behind 12 kills each from Kaipono Benson and Taylor Phipps, 35 assists by Merit Ghodrat and 10 digs by Braden Gonzales.

The rest of the top 10 includes Grossmont at No. 8, Santa Barbara City at nine and San Diego Miramar at 10^th.

Key matches this week include No. 10 Miramar at No. 8 Grossmont on Wednesday night and No. 2 San Diego Mesa at No. 8 Grossmont, No. 1 Orange Coast at No. 3 Golden West, No. 6 Moorpark at No. 6 Santa Monica and No. 5 Long Beach at No. 9 Santa Barbara on Friday

(Brent Shaver, CCCMVCA)