Men's volleyball team edged in five sets at El Camino

Courtesy of Toni Lavacot
Courtesy of Toni Lavacot

Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team pushed El Camino to the limit on the road, but dropped its first match of the 2015 season.

IVC fell to El Camino in five sets, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 11-5, at El Camino.

IVC coach Ki Yi said El Camino is expected to be one of the top teams in the state this season.

"We were right there," Yi said. "We just have to be more efficient with the way we play. We have a lot to work on, but it is still early in the season. I am still very confident with this group."

Irvine Valley got 19 kills and four digs from sophomore outside hitter Cole Murray on the night.

Sophomore opposite and setter Arek Halaj finished with eight kills, five digs and 14 assists.

Sophomore outside hitter Josh Schmidt had seven kills and six digs.

Freshman setter Jake Adams ended with 22 assists, five digs and three aces, sophomore libero Billy Crow had 13 digs and sophomore middle blocker Matt Mittry had five blocks to go along with three kills for Irvine Valley.

El Camino, which beat Orange Coast in five sets last week, improved to 2-0 on the season.

The Warriors were paced by Peter Nordel with 16 kills, Cesar Medina with 14 kills and Casey Wood with 13 kills. Chris Griebenow had 53 assists.

Nordel hit .600 and Medina hit .355 in the match.

El Camino had a hitting percentage of .186 and Irvine Valley was at .130 for the contest.

Irvine Valley plays again at Miramar in San Diego in its first Pacific Coast Athletic Conference match on Friday at 4 p.m.