Long Beach City remains atop the men's volleyball coaches poll

IRVINE - Long Beach City College’s men’s volleyball team is once again at the top of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association Top 10 State Poll. The Vikings, who are the defending state champions, are No. 1 for the fourth straight week.

Long Beach City has won eight straight matches and improved its record to 10-1 overall last week with a four-set victory over No. 7 Santiago Canyon and a sweep over LA Pierce. The 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 win over Pierce on the road last Friday moved LBCC’s record to 3-0 in the Western State Conference.

Erik Hernandez had 17 kills in the Vikings’ win, Joseph Rocha recorded 35 assists and Julian Zavala had 15 digs.

Uriel Batista ranks fourth in the state for Long Beach City in kills at 4.03 per set. The Vikings are averaging a state-high 12.68 kills per set on the year.

Long Beach City plays host to Santa Monica Wednesday night and then plays in the match of the week on Friday, traveling to No. 4 Santa Barbara in a key WSC match-up. Orange Coast, after winning five straight matches, is back alone at No. 2 in the poll. The Pirates were tied with El Camino for second last week.

Orange Coast improved its record to 7-4 overall with sweeps at Palomar and Miramar last week. In its 26-24, 25-23, 25-22 victory at Miramar last Friday. Will Anderson had 11 kills and Kohl Kutsch recorded 22 assists.

The Pirates also swept Jamestown College on Monday night. OCC plays at No. 10 Fullerton on Friday.

El Camino moved to No. 3 in the poll. The Warriors captured two Western State Conference victories last week, winning a big match at No. 6 Moorpark in four sets on Wednesday and then sweeping at Santa Monica on Friday.

In its win at Moorpark on Wednesday, Gabriel Vargas-Featherstone had 16 kills and hit an impressive .500, Connor Oliver had 10 kills and Luke Grafton finished with 20 digs. Grafton leads the state in digs per set at 4.48. El Camino hosts Pierce on Wednesday and plays at Antelope Valley on Friday.

El Camino will then get a week off before a big match-up at Long Beach City on Mar. 20. Santa Barbara City (7-2) won two more matches and upped its win streak to seven in a row, but remained at No. 4 in the poll. The Vaqueros swept Pierce and Mesa at home last week.

Brigg Busenhart had a season-high 14 kills on Saturday to lead SBCC to the 25-19, 25- 20, 25-23 win over Mesa. It was another team effort for the Vaqueros, who face No. 1 Long Beach City on Friday at home.

Rounding out the top five teams this week is Miramar, which comes in fifth for the third week in a row. The Jets defeated No. 9 Irvine Valley in five sets on Wednesday before losing in three to Orange Coast Friday at home.

The full top 10 poll can be viewed below.

Previous polls: Feb. 5 l Feb. 12 l Feb. 19 l Feb. 25 l Mar. 4 l Mar. 10