Pirates take down Jimmies in four

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team took on NAIA program, the University of Jamestown on Thursday night and topped the visiting Jimmies in four sets, 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, in a nonconference matchup inside the Peterson Gym.

The Jimmies, new in town from Jamestown, North Dakota, were in Southern California for their fourth match in four days, having already taken on fellow NAIA programs Vanguard University on Monday, Hope International University on Tuesday and The Master's University on Wednesday.

But in the end, the state's three-time defending state champs at the two-year level took care of business against Jamestown, a program coached by former OCC players, head coach Downey Huynh and William Rice.

Noah Keelin had a big night for the Pirates (11-1) with 23 kills and seven digs, while Kam Valilian added seven kills. Jase Fukushima dished out 31 assists and Jacob Surrette led the middle with five total blocks.

For the Jimmies, Tomasz Swiderski led the Jamestown offense with 21 kills, while Michal Niemiec added 17.

In the opening set, Jamestown came out swinging and carried a 16-13 lead throughout the first half of the set before the Pirates turned up the jets and scored 12 of the next 16 points to take the opener, 25-20. Three kills by Keelin, an ace from Kai Van Bourgondien and five Jimmie errors helped turn things around for OCC.

That comeback helped carry OCC's momentum into the second set, where Coast jumped out to a 16-7 lead and never looked back. 

The Jimmies battled back and used the firepower from Swiderski and Niemiec to grab the early lead from the Pirates and held on for a 25-19 Set 3 win to stay into the match.

With OCC ahead 15-13, Coast used a 3-point mini-run to pull ahead 18-13 and from there, the Pirates traded points with the Jimmies until match point, where a Lukas Morse kill ended the match.

It was the Pirates' second win in 24 hours, following Wednesday night's 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 Southern Conference win over visiting Grossmont College.

Against the Griffins, Coast was led by Andrew Kargas with nine kills, while Keelin and Morse each added five kills. Fukushima had 15 assists, while Keegin Christenson added 10.

The Pirates will be on the road for the next two matches, starting with Friday's contest at Palomar (6 p.m.). OCC's next home match will take place on Friday, March 14 against Irvine Valley (6 p.m.).