Pirates host Long Beach City in state quarterfinal matchup

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team will begin its defense of last year's state title when it hosts Long Beach City College in a California Community College Athletic Association state quarterfinal matchup on Friday night at 6 p.m. inside the Peterson Gym.

The Pirates, who finished in second place in the Pacific Coast Conference with a 12-2 record (15-5 overall) earned the home quarterfinal showdown with the Vikings (third place in Western State Conference at 8-4, 13-5 overall) after sweeping past rival Irvine Valley College on Friday night, 25-21, 27-25, 25-20. Third-place IVC will travel to El Camino on Friday night, while conference champions Grossmont and Santa Monica have earned quarterfinal byes and will advance to next week's State Final Four.

After starting the season a surprising 0-3 -- including a five-set loss to LBCC on Jan. 30 -- the Pirates regrouped and ripped off nine wins in a row and finished the regular season with wins in 15 of their last 17 contests.

For the Vikings, they earned their quarterfinal contest with the Pirates courtesy of wins in five of their last six matches and seven of their last nine following a pair of four-set losses to El Camino and Santa Monica.

In their first matchup earlier this year, Coast was its own worst enemy against the Vikings as they lost, 26-24, 24-26, 15-25, 25-20, 18-16, in a hard fought battle at OCC. The Pirates led 23-20 in the opening game, only to see LBCC rally for the win and in the 15-point fifth set, Coast held an 11-7 advantage and served for the match on three sperate occasions, only to see the Vikings answer back. Finally, a long OCC serve, an OCC net return and an OCC wide return gave LBCC the victory.

For the Pirates, their offense has been led by freshman outside hitter Adrian Faitalia and sophomore middle blocker Nick Amado. Faitalia has notched 275 kills, 59 digs and 37 blocks, while Amado is close behind with 234 kills, 19 aces and a team-best 98 total blocks. Adding to the offensive depth is freshman OH Kamaha'o Paio, who has come on strong down the stretch with 129 kills, 65 digs and 32 blocks.

Sophomore setter Steven Duhoux has done a solid job running the Pirate offense all season and has dished out 687 assists to go along with 94 digs and 51 blocks. On defense, freshman libero Alec Podrasky has been the catalyst for the Pirates with 206 digs.

For the Vikings, they have been led offensively by the trio of freshman outside hitter Jeffrey Utupo (120 kills, 13 aces, 51 digs and 24 blocks), sophomore Alfonso Mata (90 kills, 91 digs) and freshman opposite Alejandro Albarran (89 kills, 55 digs, 23 blocks). Setter Rupert Scott has distributed 279 assists to go along with 22 kills, 35 digs and 16 blocks, while freshman libero Austin Amian anchors the Viking defense with 98 digs.