Pirates capture OEC Volleyball crown ... again

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Empire Conference was re-formed for men's volleyball for the 2017 season and only a global pandemic has been able to stop the Orange Coast College men's volleyball team from earning the top spot on the mountain every single year since.

On Wednesday night, the Pirates made it seven OEC regular-season titles in a row after sweeping past rival Golden West in three sets, inside a loud and rowdy Peterson Gymnasium.

The win keeps a two-win lead over Irvine Valley and with one match remaining, Friday's showdown with the Lasers will be merely a tune-up for the upcoming Southern California Regional playoffs, which kick off on Friday, April 19 against a team TBA, inside the Peterson Gym. In fact, ALL of the playoff games for the Pirates will remain inside their own gym as OCC will be hosting the State Final Four as well.

Cole Hauser and Kam Vakilian each had 10 kills on the outside for the state's top-ranked Pirates (16-0, 7-0 in the OEC), while Andrew Robbins and Jacob Surrette (six total blocks) combined for 13 kills in the middle as the offensive success was spread up and down the OCC lineup.

Setter Landon Seymour dished out 24 assists in the win, while Jacob Bayston was solid on defense with a team-best 12 digs.

The Rustlers (14-4, 4-3), coached by former OCC standout and a member of the Coast's 2014 state championship, Nick Amado, came out loud and excited, jumping out to a 7-3 lead early in the opening set. A block, an ace and four kills from six different GWC players had the state's No. 2-ranked team out strong early.

But following an early OCC timeout, the Pirates turned up the intensity and ripped off seven of the next nine points to grab a 10-9 advantage. Golden West used a 3-1 mini-run to regain a 12-11 lead before a 7-1 outburst by the Pirates gave Coast the lead for good in the opening set.

It was more of the same in the second set as an early GWC advantage quickly turned back to the Pirates. A pair of kills from Myles Henderson, two kills from Vakilian, and two kills from Surrette sparked a 15-7 run, turning a 5-3 deficit into an 18-12 lead.

Trailing, 20-15, GWC used three points in a row to pull to within a pair, but Coast responded with a Vakilian kill, a Rustler net violation and a block by Surrette to get those points back. Hauser put an exclamation point on the end of the second set with a solo block on set point, putting Coast one set away from victory.

The third set had the same blueprint as the first two, with the Rustlers coming out swinging and grabbing an early lead. Coast grabbed the lead for good after a 4-0 spurt gave the hosts a 12-9 advantage. From there, the Pirates were content to trade blows with the Rustlers and Coast never trailed the rest of the way. Finally, with the crowd on its feet, Vakilian slammed home match point to end the contest.