Golden West Moves on to State Semi Finals

by GWC Sports Information

Huntington Beach, Calif. - Men's Volleyball moves on to the Semi Finals of the CCCAA after defeating El Camino College 3-2 at Golden West on Friday night.
(25-27, 25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 15-8)

Golden West (18-4, 11-2) played a strong first set, tying the score at 24 - 24 then 25 - 25 for a nail biting loss 25-27 loss in the first playoff game. The narrow margin in the first lit the competitive fires for the Rustlers, bouncing back in a 25-20 win for the second set.  

'Our guys aren't easily defeated, they come back strong and know how to turn up the heat' remarked head coach Paul Munoz on the second set loss. 

The Rustlers, knowing they could go the distance, despite losing the third set, turned up the game volume and racked up 8 unanswered points. With the score 24-14, Golden West would not be stopped, even diving into the Rustler bench to keep the game point ball in play. Vincent Pizzuti, who kicked his performance into high gear in the 4th and 5th, drilled the game winning spike into El Camino territory.

Solid as always, Andrew Tenbrink, sent 21 kills over the net and shut down the El Camino offense with 5 solo blocks. Tenbrink's overall season average for hitting is at .374 with a total of 241 kills - and counting. The outside hitter is currently ranked 4th in the state for kills and hold the 3rd highest hitting percentage. 

Chase Palumbo proved himself an offense and defense powerhouse sending 16 kills, 1 service ace over the net and pulling out 17 digs along with 7 solo blocks. 

The current CCCAA state leader in digs, Daniel Vasquez added 18 to his count of 225 overall. 

Next: Golden West heads to L.A. Peirce College for the CCCAA State Championship Semi-Finals. The Rustlers will take the court against Long Beach City College at 7:30pm on Thursday, April 28th.