Men's volleyball team swept in showdown with Orange Coast

Courtesy of On My Game Photography
Courtesy of On My Game Photography

In a battle between the top two men's volleyball teams in the state, No. 1 Irvine Valley couldn't keep up with second-ranked Orange Coast.

The Lasers were out-played in a 25-20, 25-11, 25-15 Orange Empire Conference defeat on Friday night at home.

The match was also Irvine Valley's annual Dig Pink Night with all ticket and raffle proceeds going toward the fight against breast cancer.

The win was Orange Coast's 12th in a row and will move them up to the No. 1 spot next week in the state poll.

OCC improved its record to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in conference.

Irvine Valley's record fell to 11-2 overall and 2-1 in conference. The Lasers had been riding an eight-match win streak of their own.

After the first set, which was tight at times, Orange Coast cruised the rest of the way.

The Pirates were led by Justin Kam, who had a team-high 14 kills. Matt Ujkic, Jordan Hoppe and Bradley Hankus each added seven kills for Orange Coast.

Irvine Valley, which had trouble with serve receive and could never seem to get untracked in the match, got five kills and two blocks from sophomore middle blocker Matt August and three kills each from sophomore outside hitter Ruben Lopez, freshman outside hitters Brennan To and Patrick Furlong.

Irvine Valley is back in action next Wednesday when it faces another difficult challenge at sixth-ranked Fullerton.

The Hornets, who are in their first year as a program, have a record of 10-5 overall.