Nine Pirates moving on to four-year level
COSTA MESA -- Orange Coast College head men's volleyball coach Travis Turner has announced that nine members of last year's program will continue their collegiate careers at the four-year level.
Five Pirates from the 2015 squad -- Nick Amado (Long Beach State), Ryan Clayton (UC Santa Barbara) Steven Duhoux (University of Hawaii), Kevin Hayden (USC) and Jake Thibodeau (Grand Canyon University) -- will compete at the Division I level. Sean Keyes will compete at Division III powerhouse Baruch College in New York, while Chris Horner will play at the NAIA level at Sienna Heights College in Michigan.
In addition, two more Pirate players -- Jack Stafford and Kyle Hurst -- will move on and attend college at UC Santa Barbara, but will not compete in volleyball, according to Turner.
Amado was a two-time, first-team, All-Pacific Coast Conference middle blocker for the Pirates who notched 409 kills and 176 total blocks. His 22 aces in 2015 lead the Pirates, as did his 108 total blocks.
The 6-foot-7 Clayton played in six matches for the Pirates and notched 10 kills and nine blocks and should be a solid player for UCSB as he continues to develop his volleyball skills.
Duhoux came to OCC after one year at Irvine Valley College and the sophomore setter earned second-team, All-PCC honors after dishing out 772 assists to go along with 27 kills, 10 aces, 103 digs and 53 blocks. He was a third-team, All-PCC setter for the Lasers in 2014.
Hayden, a freshman libero from Foothill HS, played in 13 matches off of the bench and notched 12 digs behind starter Alec Podrasky.
Thibodeau, a freshman outside hitter from Fountain Valley HS, played in 10 matches and notched 10 kills and seven digs for the Pirates last year.
Stafford played in all 22 matches for Coast last year and notched 21 kills, 14 aces and 27 digs after compiling 13 kills and 26 digs for OCC in 2014.
Hurst, a freshman middle blocker out of Newport Harbor, started up the middle for the Pirates last year and totaled 35 kills, 54 team blocks, 11 digs and three aces for the Pirates.
