Faitalia, Grasso earn conference Co-MVP honors for Pirates
COSTA MESA -- Sophomore Adrian Faitalia and freshman Gianluca Grasso were named Pacific Coast Conference Co-Most Valuable Player honors at last week's PCC coaches meeting, according to Pirate head coach Travis Turner.
Faitalia led the PCC with 145 kills and a state-best .474 hitting percentage. His 95 digs were third-best in conference and tops among all non-libero players and he also added 18 blocks and 12 aces to his array of impressive stats.
Overall, Faitalia came through with 229 kills, a .445 hitting percentage, 157 digs, 35 blocks and 19 aces.
Grasso was the perfect added weapon to the Pirates' offense as he ripped 126 kills in conference to go along with 20 blocks and 25 aces. Overall, the Sao Paulo, Brazil native slugged 210 kills, 30 blocks and 37 aces.
Joining Grasso and Faitalia on the first team squad is freshman middle blocker Will Donald, who dominated the center of the court with 60 total blocks and contributed to the offense with 74 kills. His 60 blocks were second-most among all PCC players.
Second-team honors for the Pirates when to freshman middle blocker Matthew Ujkic (99 kills, 51 blocks, .509 hitting percentage), while third-team honors were given to freshman opposite Jordan Hoppe (118 kills, 20 aces, 33 blocks, 94 digs).
The Pirates finished the 2016 regular season as champions of the PCC with a record of 13-1 (20-2 overall). Coast will take on Santa Monica City College on Thursday at 5 p.m. at L.A. Pierce College in the semifinal round of the California Community College Athletic Association State Volleyball Championships.
The winner of Thursday's semifinal will play the winner of the Golden West-Long Beach City College match on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. at LAPC.
