After its stunning, five-set victory at Orange Coast last Friday night, the Irvine Valley men's volleyball team moved into a tie for first place in the Orange Empire Conference and is now tied for second in the state in the latest California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll.
Long Beach City remains at the top of the CCCMVCA top 10. The Vikings (14-1 overall) have won 13 matches in a row and captured 30 straight sets. LBCC swept both Santa Monica and Santa Barbara City last week.
In Long Beach City's 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 victory over Santa Barbara City last Friday, Matthew Pennala led the way with 13 kills, while Georgi Binev finished with 12 kills, three aces and seven digs. Julian Zavala posted 19 digs and Sean Nguyen had 41 assists. Long Beach City plays at No. 10 Antelope Valley on Friday night at 6 p.m.
The race for the second and third spots in the poll and the lead in the Orange Empire Conference got interesting after Irvine Valley upset Orange Coast in five sets last Friday night on the road. Irvine Valley won the first two sets, dropped the next two and then pulled off a win with a 15-8 victory in the fifth and final set.
IVC and OCC are tied for second in this week's poll.
Irvine Valley is on a four-match win streak and moved into a tie with OCC at 4-1 in the OEC. Freshman outside hitter Damon Kooiman had 15 kills and sophomore opposite Demetre Gossett ended with 13 kills, a season- high seven aces and eight digs in Irvine Valley's victory at OCC.
Sebastian Lara had 19 kills and Landon Seymour finished with 28 assists for Orange Coast.
San Diego Mesa and Miramar are also in a fight for the top place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.
The two squads are tied at 4-1. Mesa edged out Miramar by two points in this week's poll. And the two teams play this Friday at Miramar in what will determine the conference champion and a top-four seed heading into the postseason.
Mesa defeated Palomar in four sets last Friday behind 15 kills from Austin Kinnear and 44 assists by Richard Aguiniga.
Miramar had just one match last week and swept Grossmont, 25-17, 25-21, 25-10. Santa Barbara City comes in at No. 6 in this week's poll.
The Vaqueros earned a big victory over Moorpark last Wednesday at home. Troy Fitzgerald had 19 kills and hit .452 on the night for SBCC.
The rest of the top 10 includes Moorpark at No. 7, Santa Monica at No. 8, Santiago Canyon at No. 9 and Antelope Valley and El Camino tied for 10th.
State leaders include Brandon Ta of LA Pierce in kills per set (4.55). Cameron Grammatica of Santiago Canyon is next at 4.33 per set. Irvine Valley's sophomore libero Adam Schulte leads in digs per set (3.56), San Diego Mesa's TJ Letuligasenoa is best in hitting percentage (.391), Orange Coast's Andrew Robbins leads in blocks per set (1.38) and Irvine Valley's Demetre Gossett is tops in aces per set (0.83).
Long Beach City is first in team hitting percentage at .350 on the year.
Key matches this week include No. 10 Antelope Valley at No. 7 Moorpark, No. 9 Santiago Canyon at No. 2 Orange Coast and a battle for No. 1 in the PCAC with No. 5 Miramar taking on No. 4 San Diego Mesa on Friday.
CCCMVCA State Poll
1. Long Beach City (14-1, 9-0)
T2. Irvine Valley (13-2, 4-1)
T2. Orange Coast (12-3, 4-1)
4. San Diego Mesa (14-4, 4-1)
5. Miramar (8-4, 4-1)
6. Santa Barbara City (8-4, 4-1)
7. Moorpark (8-6, 4-4)
8. Santa Monica (8-8, 5-4)
9. Santiago Canyon (10-6, 3-2)
T10. Antelope Valley (6-9, 3-5)
T10. El Camino (5-9, 3-6)
Highlighted student-athlete of the week: Damon Kooiman (Outside Hitter, Fr., Irvine Valley)
Kooiman, a 6-5 outside hitter/opposite, helped lead Irvine Valley to its best win of the season last Friday night on the road at Orange Coast. The former Edison High standout finished with 15 kills, hit .545 (15-3-22) and added two digs. On the season, Kooiman is averaging 2.45 kills and 1.73 digs per set and hitting .310 for the Lasers, who moved into a tie for first place in the Orange Empire Conference with their 29-27, 25-17, 21-25, 18-25, 15-8 victory at Orange Coast.
(Brent Shaver, CCCMVCA)
