Fourth-ranked men's volleyball team hosts No. 1 OCC Wednesday

Fourth-ranked men's volleyball team hosts No. 1 OCC Wednesday

The top seven teams remained the same in the fifth week of the California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll for 2019 with Irvine Valley at fourth in the rankings.

But conference action is heating up and key matches are coming up this week.

Orange Coast, which continues to be undefeated at 12-0 and has been No. 1 in the state for five weeks in a row, plays at No. 4 Irvine Valley in an Orange Empire Conference opener on Wednesday.

OCC is has dropped just five sets all year. Two of them came last Friday, but the Pirates still handled four-year Aquinas from Michigan in four sets twice in a doubleheader at home.

The Pirates won the first match, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21. And then Coast came out on top, 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23. In the opener, Downey Huynh led OCC with 17 kills. Garrett Halsey added 13 kills. And then, Kyle McCauley came up with 22 kills to go along with four digs, while Aiden Wolf-Nielsen added 11 kills and Clark Steele contributed eight kills in the second match.

El Camino remained at the top of the Western State Conference and No. 2 in the rankings with two more wins last week. The Warriors, with a record of 8-1, have won six in a row.

They earned a tough win at Santa Barbara City in five sets (15-13 in the fifth) last Friday behind 16 kills from Cinjun Coe and 13 kills from Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone. El Camino hosts No. 6 Moorpark and plays at LA Pierce this week.

Long Beach City came in at No. 3 again in the poll. The Vikings scored easy sweeps over Antelope Valley and Santa Monica last week.

Irvine Valley had last week off to get ready for the start of OEC play on Wednesday at home against top-ranked Orange Coast. The Lasers rely on

Irvine Valley won at San Diego Mesa, 25-15, 25-15, 25-9, in its last match on Mar. 1. It was IVC's fifth win in its last six matches. Ten different players recorded a kill in the contest for IVC. Freshman middle blocker Tristan Belsby ended with six kills in two sets played and sophomore outside hitter Sean Carroll had five kills in six attempts along with three digs in just a set. Freshmen Max Wise (three kills and four aces), Luke Davis (three kills) and Daniel Soliz (three kills and five aces) also played a nice role in the Lasers' victory. Freshman setters Isaiah Powell (13 assists) and Jimi Wilson (nine assists) ran the offense.

On the year, IVC is hitting .297 as a team and limiting opponents to just .133. Carroll is averaging 2.86 kills, freshman middle blocker Grant Marocchi averages 2.21 kills, is hitting .443 and is averaging 1.16 blocks, freshman outside hitter Demetre Gossett is averaging 2.44 kills and 0.97 aces, freshman outside hitter Declan Holder averages 1.92 kills, freshman libero Jonathan Immanuel averages 1.30 digs and Powell is averaging 9.15 assists

Santa Barbara City was once again slotted at No. 5. SBCC swept LA Pierce at home and then fell in a tough, five-set match to No. 2 El Camino Friday. Four different Vaqueros finished with double-digit kills against El Camino, led by Calvin Sanbom with 18 and Trent Lingruen with 15. Chayton Clark also added 17 digs.

Sixth-ranked Moorpark lost to ninth-ranked Santa Monica, 25-19, 16-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13 last Wednesday on the road and then swept Antelope Valley at home Friday night. Moorpark's Dylan Haskell leads the state in blocks per set at 1.67.

Santiago Canyon remained at No. 7 in the rankings, paced by Matthew Roussin, who leads the state in kills per set at 4.17.

The entire top 10 poll can be viewed below. 

CCCMVCA State Top 10

1. Orange Coast (12-0)

2. El Camino (8-1)

3. Long Beach City (7-3)

4. Irvine Valley (8-4)

5. Moorpark (6-2)

6. Santa Barbara City (5-3)

7. Santiago Canyon (7-2)

8. Fullerton (5-5)

9. Santa Monica (2-6)

10. Golden West (5-4)

Others receiving votes: LA Pierce, Grossmont, Miramar