One of the matches of the year so far in the California Community College Athletic Association for men's volleyball is set for Wednesday night between to big-time rivals.
Irvine Valley, ranked tied for No. 1 in the state, hosts No. 3 Orange Coast at 6 p.m. at IVC.
Orange Coast, which is the defending state champion, comes in with a 8-2 record.
Both of its loses have come to Long Beach City in four sets. LBCC was tied at the top of the state coaches poll last week.
The Pirates have won five matches in a row, including beating No. 4 San Diego Mesa in five sets on the road Feb. 24.
Orange Coast last played on Mar. 3, sweeping Miramar at home, 25-18, 25-14, 25-17.
In that contest, Sebastian Lara had 11 kills and Niall Finnegan added nine kills and hit .583 (9-2-12).
Landon Seymour contributed 31 assists and Hide Nakamura chipped in 11 digs.
On the year, Lara is averaging 3.24 kills per set and Finnegan is averaging 1.80 per set. Nakamura averages 3.53 digs and Seymour is averaging 8.21 assists per set. Seymour ranks third in the state in assists per set and Peter Kelso is third in the state in blocks per set (1.00)
Irvine Valley captured its ninth match of the season in its lone contest last week.
The Lasers swept Palomar, 25-11, 25-14, 25-17, on the road Wednesday.
IVC hit an impressive .444 as a team with sophomore opposite Demetre Gossett leading at .471. He finished with nine kills.
Freshman outside hitter Damon Kooiman ended with six kills, freshman setter Kaina Alvarez ran the offense with 19 assists and freshman outside hitter Zach McEntire (11 digs) and sophomore libero Adam Schulte (10 digs) kept IVC alive in points throughout the match.
Sophomore middle blocker Julio Gutierrez also had a solid night, contributing four blocks.
So far this season, Gossett is averaging 3.89 kills per set and hitting .360 to lead the way for the Lasers.
Kooiman averages 2.22 kills and McEntire averages 1.92 kills per set.
Gutierrez is averaging 1.43 kills and hitting a team-best .468.
Alvarez is averaging 7.51 assists and Schulte averages 3.70 digs per set.
Gossett ranks fifth in the state in kills per set, is second in total kills (140) and second in hitting percentage.
Schulte is pacing the state in digs per set and total digs (137).
Irvine Valley doesn't play again until next Wednesday when it travels to Golden West for a 6 p.m. OEC match.
