Pirates sweep aside Lasers
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley (9-5, 3-3) | 9 | 19 | 16 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (14-1, 6-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The matchup between rivals Orange Coast and Irvine Valley in men's volleyball was over in 62 minutes as the top-ranked Pirates made quick work of the No. 6 Lasers with a 25-9, 25-19, 25-16 win on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.
Andrew Kargas slammed down nine kills to lead the way for the Pirates (14-1, 7-0 Southern Conference), while Noah Keelin (three solo blocks) and Jacob Surrette (three block assists) each added seven kills and Adam Haidar knocked down five.
Setters Keegin Christenson and Jase Fukushima combined for 28 assists, while libero Gabriel Armen-Nichter came up with a match-best six digs.
OCC, three-time defending state champions, went to work early on the Lasers and came out swinging, grabbing a 10-2 lead in the opening set. Surrette came out strong with three kills and a block, while Kai Van Bourgondien's strong serves to start the match put the Lasers (9-5, 3-3) back on their heels early on.
Keelin and Haidar notched a kill and block each to highlight the next Pirate run and suddenly, the set-1 rout was on with OCC carrying an 20-6 advantage, cruising from there.
In the second set, IVC came out and pushed back a bit on the Pirates and trailed by a single point (14-13). But Coast scored six of the next seven points with a pair of Haidar kills and single putaways by Kargas and Tyler Degener to give Coast a more comfortable 21-14 advantage. From there, both teams went back and forth before a Kargas kill on set point gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the match.
IVC scored the first three points of the third set, but that was about it for the guests' highlights for the night as Coast went on an 11-3 run to regain the lead and never let it go the rest of the way. The Lasers forced an OCC timeout with a rally to trim the deficit to 18-14, but the Pirates finished things off with a 7-2 run, capped off by a solo block by Keelin to put an exclamation point on the match.
Coast will return to action on Wednesday at home against another familiar foe -- Golden West College -- beginning at 6 p.m.
