Top five hold serve in CCCMVCA; Golden West moves into top 10

CCCMVCA Poll (Feb. 21)

IRVINE VALLEY, Calif. - Long Beach City remained at the top of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll for the fourth straight week and stayed one of two undefeated teams left in the state after winning two more matches last week.

The Vikings went to 8-0 after sweeps over No. 2 Orange Coast and No. 8 LA Pierce.

Long Beach City has still dropped just two sets all season. The Vikings are hitting .332 as a team and led by Andrew Pearson, who is hitting .542, and Steven Rotter, who is hitting .326. In their 26-24, 25-19, 25-14 win at home over Orange Coast last Wednesday, Rotter had 18 kills and hit .444, Pearson had 10 kills and hit .700 and Remi Pourrat finished with 10 kills and hit .400.

The top five teams stayed the same in this week’s poll.

Orange Coast remained at No. 2 in the rankings. OCC’s record fell to 5-2 on the year after the loss to Long Beach City. Both of Coast’s losses have come to the Vikings this year. The Pirates host San Diego Miramar and San Diego Mesa this week. 

Irvine Valley, which has a record of 4-1 and has won four matches in a row, had last week off from game action. The Lasers play at Grossmont on Wednesday.

Fourth-ranked Santa Barbara City (4-0) also had a break in its schedule last week. The Vaqueros, who are the other undefeated team in the state, is back in action, hosting LA Trade Tech on Wednesday and then playing a big match at El Camino on Friday.

Santa Monica also stayed in its same spot in this week’s poll at No. 5. The Corsairs had last week off after winning a pair of matches on Feb. 9 over Grossmont and Fullerton at the Fullerton quad. Santa Monica (3-2) has won three matches in a row. It hosts No. 9 Moorpark on Wednesday.

El Camino jumped two places in this week’s poll from eighth to sixth after rallying to beat Fullerton, 17-25, 13-25, 25-19, 27-25, 15-8, last Wednesday at home. El Camino (3-2) was paced by Matthew Donatucci with 15 kills, Kevin Le with nine kills and 11 digs and Joseph Sico with 43 assists.

Fullerton fell a spot to seventh in the poll and LA Pierce slipped two placed to eighth. Moorpark is at ninth this week with Golden West making its first appearance of the season at No. 10 after earning three straight wins, which were all sweeps.

(Brent Shaver, UC Irvine Athletics)