Pirates pushed to fifth set but still prevail over Hornets

FULLERTON -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team picked up its 15th straight win, but it wasn't easy as first-year program Fullerton College played NOTHING like a first-year program on Friday night. But in the end, the Pirates pulled out a hard-fought, five-set win over the Hornets to remain atop the Orange Empire Conference standings.

Jordan Hoppe had a match-best 19 kills, while Justin Kam added 17 kills to lead the Pirates (16-1, 6-0 in conference) past the Hornets, 25-14, 23-25, 16-25, 25-19, 15-12. The duo also combined for five aces, while Cole Aidnik anchored the defense with a team-best 14 digs. 

The win keeps the Pirates one win ahead of second-place Irvine Valley (14-2, 5-1) with two matches remaining.

OCC will host IVC on Wednesday night (6 p.m.) with the OEC title on the line.

The Lasers will look to exact some revenge on the Pirates after Coast swept past them in three sets (25-20, 25-11, 25-15) at IVC back on March 24. Following Wednesday night's matchup between the top two teams in the state, OCC will play at Santiago Canyon on Friday, while Irvine Valley hosts Fullerton.

It's always a fun night when the Pirates and Lasers play each other and Wednesday night will be no excpetion. Coast, which has won five straight over IVC and 10-of-11, dating back to 2011-12. In this year's previous matchup, the Pirates had their way for the final two sets after battling to win the opening set. Coast had 39 kills with only nine hitting errors and a .417 hitting percentage, while the Lasers had as many kills (17) as errors (17).

Both Kam (182 kills, 87 digs) and Hoppe (181 kills, 70 digs) are among two of the top five hitters and two of the top 10 defenders in the Orange Empire Conference. Their all-around play has helped carry this current 15-match win streak for the Pirates and with the postseason just around the corner, OCC is playing its best volleyball at just the right time.

Sophomore opposite Matt Ujkic has been the perfect third weapon for head coach Travis Turner, notching 110 kills to go along with 46 digs and 32 blocks.

The OCC middle blocker trio of Bradley Hankus (60 kills, 43 blocks), Austin Marriott (39 kills, 41 blocks and Chris Orem (35 kills, 29 blocks) have combined to hit over .400 as a group with only 27 errors in 251 attempts.

This offense is dictated by the setter tandem of freshmen Colby Elder and Jacob Gilliam, who have a combined 554 assists, 23 aces and 95 digs.

For the Lasers, they are led up the middle by 6-foot-8 freshman middle blocker Matt August, who has a team-best 164 kills and 67 total blocks. 

On the outside, hitters Ruben Lopez (124 kills, 49 digs, 20 aces) and Brennan To (123 kills, 64 digs) have controlled the airways, while setter Austin McBain's 574 assists are second among all setters in the state.

Sophomore libero Josh Evers anchors the IVC defense with 80 digs.