Pirates start strong, but fade at Grossmont
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 25 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 1 |
|
Grossmont | 18 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
EL CAJON -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team came out strong against host Grossmont, but in the end, the Griffins were too tough to tame as the Pirates fell, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-15, on Wednesday in a crucial Pacific Coast Conference matchup.
With the loss, the Pirates (14-5, 11-2 in conference) dropped into a second-place tie with Irvine Valley (13-4, 11-2), one match behind the first-place Griffins (15-4, 12-1) with one match remaining. Coast and IVC will fight for second place and a state quarterfinal home match on Friday at 6 p.m. at IVC, while the Griffins take on seventh-place San Diego City College in their quest for the PCC title and an automatic trip to the state semifinals.
After sweeping past Grossmont back on March 13 at OCC (25-20, 25-22, 25-14), it looked to be more of the same on Wednesday as Coast rolled to a 25-18 win in the opening set. The Pirates notched 14 kills with just two errors in 34 chances in the opening set and used strong hitting from outside hitters Adrian Faitalia (14 kills for the match) and Kamaah'o Paio (13 kills) to grab the early lead.
But the Griffins, winners of seven straight, regrouped and took advantage of 24 hitting errors by the Pirates over the next three sets to win going away.
Nick Amado added nine kills and seven blocks for Coast, while Steven Duhoux led the Pirates with 36 assists and 16 digs.
