Pirates roll to three-set sweep over Vikings
COSTA MESA -- It's been another impressive start for the three-time defending state champion Orange Coast College men's volleyball team as the Pirates rolled to a three-set sweep over Long Beach City College on Tuesday inside the Peterson Gym.
Noah Keelin ripped 11 kills to go along with three total blocks to lead the way for the 4-0 Pirates as they topped the Vikings, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21. Andrew Kargas added nine kills for OCC, while Kam Valilian slammed down eight. Setter Jase Fukushima paced the offense with 21 assists, while Adam Haidar was strong in the middle with four total blocks.
In the opening set, Coast jumped out to an early lead and never gave it up, with Kargas, Vakilian and Jacob Surrette providing the offense as the Pirates led 17-13.
Long Beach (2-3) pulled to within three at 18-15 only to see OCC score four straight to pull away for good.
It was more of the same in the second set as OCC grabbed the early advantage and led 20-16, only to see Long Beach use a kill, a block and two return errors by the Pirates to even the set at 20 and force Coast into a timeout to settle things.
After both teams traded points to even things at 21, Coast used a pair of Kargas kills and put-aways by Valilian and Haidar to score the final four points of the set to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was a carbon copy of the first two for OCC ... grab the early momentum and don't let up. Coast pulled away from the Vikings 15-9 and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. Keelin led the way in the third set with five kills.
Coast will return to action on Friday at home against Santa Monica City College, beginning at 6 p.m.
