Men's volleyball team second in final coaches poll of year

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

Irvine Valley's men's volleyball team ended up No. 2 in the final California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll of the 2019 season.

The only team ahead of IVC was the team that beat the Lasers in last Saturday's CCCAA State Championship

Long Beach City sweept Irvine Valley, 25-22, 25-12, 25-12, at Fullerton College.

LBCC impressively won its final 14 matches of the 2019 season and swept both teams it took on in the Final Four weekend at Fullerton.

The Vikings avenged 2018's early exit in the CCCAA Final Four when they were favored to win it all as the undefeated, No. 1 seed.

Long Beach City now has the most state titles under its belt with 10 (1976, 1980, 1982, 1985, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2019).

In his seventh season as the LBCC head coach, Jonathan Charette earned his third state championship while leading the team to a 19-3 overall record.

Kyle Anema was named the State Championship MVP after hammering down a match-high 13 kills in the final. And Uriel Batista and Joseph Rocha were each named to the All-State Tournament team for the Vikings. Bautista finished with 10 kills and Rocha contributed 33 assists.

Irvine Valley, with its trip to the state final, came in second in the final poll. The Lasers stunned undefeated and top-ranked Orange Coast in four sets in the semifinals.

Orange Coast had been ranked No. 1 in the coaches state poll all year until this week.

The Lasers wrapped up their season with a respectable 15-8 overall record in Ryan Windisch's first season as the head coach. Freshman middle blocker Tristan Belsby and freshman outside hitter Declan Holder were both named to the All-State Tournament team. Belsby had six kills on the night last Saturday.

IVC also got solid contributions throughout the year by freshman middle blocker Grant Marocchi, who is headed to Long Beach State, sophomore outside hitter Sean Carroll and freshman outside hitter Demetre Gossett.

Orange Coast finished third in the poll with another semifinalist, El Camino at No. 4.

For the Pirates (22-1), it was a bitter pill to swallow after such an incredible run of dominance throughout the 2019 season. Sixteen of OCC's 22 wins came by way of three-game sweeps and the Pirates finished their season winning 67 sets while losing only 11.

El Camino split with Long Beach City during the regular season, but the Vikings had too much for the Warriors in a sweep in the Final Four. El Camino ended with a mark of 17-3. The Warriors did share the Western State Conference title with Long Beach City.

Rounding out the top five in the coaches state poll were Santa Barbara City and Moorpark, who ended up tied for fifth.

Santa Barbara City (11-8) played as well as anyone down the stretch of the regular season, but found itself with a tough match-up against Orange Coast in the first round of the playoffs. Moorpark (10-8) had to face off against eventual runner-up Irvine Valley in the opening round of the postseason. The full poll is below.

CCCMVCA State Top 10

1. Long Beach City (19-3)

2. Irvine Valley (15-8)

3. Orange Coast (22-1)

4. El Camino (17-3)

5t. Santa Barbara City (11-8)

5t. Moorpark (10-8)

7. Santiago Canyon (11-9)

8. Grossmont (8-10)

9. Golden West (8-9)

10. Santa Monica (6-11)