Pirates win Far Westerns Tournament
DAVIS -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team won the Far Westerns Tournament this past weekend, held at UC Davis, becoming the first-ever community college program to win the event in the tournament's 28-year history.
The event is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments in college club volleyball. After two trips to the finals over the past two years, the Pirates finally broke through this year to win the event.
After a solid showing in pool play, the Pirates topped UC Irvine, 25-17, 26-24 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, OCC took on top-seeded UC Santa Barbara and defeated the Gauchos' club team in three sets, 25-22, 20-25, 16-14. In that third set, Coast trailed 13-10 before ripping off six of the next seven points to advance to the title match against Grossmont College.
In the finals, it was agreed that the match would be a one-set, winner-take-all due to the amount of play throughout the day. "We had both played six matches in one day and everyone was exhausted," OCC head coach Travis Turner said.
In the matchup with the Griffins, both teams went back and forth before the Pirates prevailed, 25-23 to win the event.
Strong play was turned in offensively by hitters Johannes Brink and Cody Martin, while libero Scott Enos anchored the OCC defense.
The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday at Santa Monica City College, beginning at 6 p.m. OCC's next home match will be on Friday, March 1 against Golden West, also at 6 p.m.
