Five men's volleyball players on inaugural all-OEC team

Posted: May 08, 2017

Irvine Valley had five players named recently to all-conference teams as part of the inaugural Orange Empire Conference Men's Volleyball Awards.

IVC, which finished second in the conference to Orange Coast, had two first-team and three second-team honorees.

Freshman middle blocker Matt August and freshman setter Austin McBain were each picked to the first team.

Through the end of the regular season, August averaged 3.03 kills, hit at a .411 percentage, which led the state, and also ranked second in the state in blocks at 1.33 per set.

McBain was first in the conference and second in the state in assists at 10.57 per set.

Sophomore outside hitter Ruben Lopez and freshman outside hitters Patrick Furlong and Brennan To were selected as second-team selections.

Lopez averaged 2.64 kills per set, Furlong averaged 2.35 kills and To averaged 2.25 kills per set for the Lasers through the end of the regular season.

Orange Coast standout Jordan Hoppe was named the Orange Empire Conference Men's Volleyball Most Valuable Player and Ed Rapp of Fullerton was picked as the conference's Coach of the Year.

Hoppe was one of six Pirate players named all-conference.

Hoppe, whose hard work and determination helped lead the Pirates to 17 straight wins to end the regular season and the Orange Empire Conference title, finished the regular season with 205 kills, 111 digs and 26 aces. In conference play, Hoppe led the way with 14 aces and he finished tied for second in conference in kills (87) and fourth in digs (47).

Sophomore outside hitter Justin Kam and sophomore middle blocker Austin Marriott each earned first-team, all-conference honors for the Pirates.

Kam notched 199 kills, 90 digs and 39 total blocks for the OCC offense, while in the middle, Marriott ripped 50 kills with just 10 errors and added 47 total blocks on defense during the regular season.

On the All-OEC second team, Coast had three players honored.

Freshman setter Colby Elder finished the 2017 regular season with 427 assists to go along with 77 digs and 13 aces.

Freshman middle blocker Bradley Hankus led the Pirates with 11 solo blocks and 64 total blocks to go along with 69 kills.

Freshman libero Chase Moothart came on strong as the season developed and notched 50 digs, while his 25 service aces were second only to Hoppe for the team lead.

The six players helped Orange Coast go on to win three more matches in a row in the postseason and claim the CCCAA State Championship.

OCC swept El Camino, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21, in the title match on Apr. 29 at LA Pierce College.

Fullerton had quite a first season as a program under Rapp, the long-time women's coach for the Hornets.

Rapp led the Hornets to a 12-8 overall record during the regular season and a 4-4 mark for third place in the conference.

Fullerton was one of three teams from the conference along with OCC and IVC to make the playoffs.

The Hornets were paced by sophomore opposite Manny Andrade, sophomore setter Dale Irvin and freshman middle blocker Kyle Young, who were each named first team all-conference. Freshman middle blocker Jordan Von Borstel was named second team.

Andrade was one of the leaders in kills in the state all season and paced the conference in total kills with 255 during the regular season, while Irvin was second in the conference in assists.

Golden West had sophomore outside hitter Kysen Olsen and sophomore libero Trevor Robison named first team all-conference, while sophomore middle blocker Arturo Alday was picked to the second team.

And Santiago Canyon, also in its first year as a program, had freshman opposite Andrew Desrochers named to the second team.

Coach of the Year

Ed Rapp - Fullerton

MVP

Jordan Hoppe - OH - Orange Coast

1st Team all-OEC

Manny Andrade - Opp - Fullerton

Matt August - MB - Irvine Valley

Dale Irvin - S - Fullerton

Justin Kaim - OH - Orange Coast

Austin Marriott - MB - Orange Coast

Austin McBain - S - Irvine Valley