Pirates to take on Corsairs in State Final Four semifinal
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team will take on Santa Monica City College on Thursday night, beginning at 5 p.m. at L.A. Pierce College in the first semifinal match of the California Community College Athletic Association Men's Volleyball State Championships.
The Pirates (20-2 overall, 13-1 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) earned a first-round bye in the postseason courtesy of winning the PCAC title and will take on a Corsairs team that finished second in the Western State Conference and beat San Diego Mesa in four sets on Friday night.
The winner of the OCC-SMC match will advance to the championship contest and will take on the winner of the second semifinal match between Golden West (18-4) and Long Beach City (18-2) on Saturday at 7 p.m., also at Pierce College.
After a rough, five-set loss to Golden West on March 9, the Pirates have ripped off 11 straight wins and have lost just two sets over that span. The defending state champion Corsairs finished 12-8 overall, 9-3 in the Western State Conference. After starting the year 2-5 -- including at 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 loss to OCC on Feb. 20 -- SMC has gone 10-3 and looking more and more like the team that won it all a year ago.
"Santa Monica is a completely different team than the one we played in February," OCC head coach Travis Turner said. "They are very strong at the pin positions and have their setter back from last year's state champ team (sophomore Joseph Mayer)."
Mayer racked up 785 assists for the Corsairs last year, with the majority going to sophomore opposite Richard Yu, who racked up 276 kills to lead the squad.
"We will need to slow down their go-to guy Richard Yu," Turner said. "He is a big physical opposite with a very good arm. He has been putting up big numbers since they moved him to the right side."
Others to keep an eye on for SMC on Thursday night include freshmen hitters Roscoe Nelms (180 kills, 64 digs), Kyle Skinner (137 kills) and sophomore middle blocker Max Nua (90 kills, 56 total blocks).
For the Pirates, the strength of the squad comes from the depth of their offense, led by the 1-2 punch of sophomore Adrian Faitalia and freshman Gianluca Grasso.
Faitalia led the PCAC 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.
Others to watch for the Pirates include freshman middle blockers Will Donald (74 kills, 60 total blocks) and Matthew Ujkic (99 kills, 51 blocks) as well as freshman opposite Jordan Hoppe (118 kills, 20 aces, 33 blocks, 94 digs).
"While we've been able to spread our offense around, I think the biggest factor for us to win will be our ability to side out and play strong defense," Turner said. "If we can keep Santa Monica from extended streaks of points and we're able to dig the ball and make efficient passes, we will be a tough team to beat."
