Pirates open season with three-set sweep over Santa Barbara
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Barbara (0-1) | 18 | 17 | 16 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (1-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The defending state champion Orange Coast College men's volleyball team opened its 2023 title defense on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym and needed just over an hour to topple visiting Santa Barbara City College.
Sebastian Lara had 11 kills and only two errors on 17 attempts to lead the Pirates past the Vaqueros, 25-18, 25-17, 25-16. Myles Henderson and Niall Finnegan each added five kills. Brock Henderson and Landon Seymour combined for 30 assists, while Tyler Vedder anchored the OCC defense with seven digs.
Both teams traded blows early in the opening set before Coast broke away from the Vaqueros with a 13-5 run to grab an 18-10 advantage. OCC's offense limited the errors (9) and kept Santa Barbara from getting back into any of the sets once a lead was established.
Santa Barbara stayed closer to the Pirates in the second set and was deadlocked with OCC at 13 before Coast ripped off eight straight points to pull away once again. Lara helped spark that 8-0 run with two kills and a solo block, enabling the Pirates to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
It was more of the same in the third set as a 10-8 OCC advantage quickly became 16-8, thanks to a pair of blocks from Peter Kelso and Noah Pak and strong serving from Lara. SBCC would not get any closer the rest of the way.
The Pirates will return to the Peterson Gym on Saturday for the 2023 John Altobelli Memorial Quad, which features the top four teams from last year -- OCC, Irvine Valley, Long Beach City and El Camino -- in a four-match, all-day battle that kicks off at 10 a.m. OCC's first match will be at 1 p.m. against El Camino before playing again at 7 p.m. against Long Beach in a state finals rematch.
