Long Beach City takes early seat atop men's volleyball coaches poll

The Vikings defeated Irvine Valley, 25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 25-15 behind 16 kills by Steven Rotter, 14 kills by Miller Davis and 38 assists from Melbe Perez. LBCC then topped Orange Coast, 27-25, 26-24, 25-23. Rotter had nine kills and six blocks to lead the way. Los Angeles Pierce came in at No. 2 this week. Pierce opened the season last Friday with a 25-19, 25-18, 25-19 victory at Miramar. Jayson Moore paced the Brahmas with 14 kills. He also hit .478 and Bernardo Roese ran the offense with 34 assists.

Orange Coast placed third in the poll. The Pirates, who are the defending state champion, split matches in their own quad on Saturday. They defeated Santa Monica, 25-15, 25-15, 25-23 and then fell in the three close sets to Long Beach City. Coast is the first of three straight Orange Empire Conference teams in the rankings.

Irvine Valley came in in at fourth spot and Fullerton was fifth in the rankings. Irvine Valley lost to Long Beach City in four sets and then defeated Santa Monica, 25-15, 23- 25, 28-26, 17-25, 15-7. Matt August had 21 kills, hit .350 and finished with 19 blocks for the Lasers in the two matches.

Fullerton recently played well in the Long Beach scrimmage event. The Hornets officially open the season on Wednesday night in a good test at No. 2 Pierce.

The rest of the top 10 poll can be viewed below.

(Brent Shaver, Irvine Valley College Athletics)