Orange Coast uses strong start to earn top spot in initial men's volleyball coaches poll
February 6, 2020
IRVINE - After two impressive wins in its own quad event last Saturday, Orange Coast was the overwhelming choice for the No. 1 spot in the first California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll of 2020.
The Pirates received the top vote in the ranking from every coach after defeating defending state champion Long Beach City in a wild, five-set thriller in the final match of the day. Orange Coast came out on top, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9 behind 16 kills and three aces from Will Anderson, eight kills apiece from Hunter Dickey and James Townsend and 37 assists and 10 digs from Kohl Kutsch. OCC also downed El Camino earlier in the quad. Anderson paced the Pirates with 17 kills and six aces.
Long Beach comes in at a close No. 2 in the poll. The Vikings had their chances against Orange Coast and took down Irvine Valley, 3-1, in a re-match of last year’s state championship contest as part of the quad. Uriel Batista finished with 33 kills in the two matches for LBCC. Arsene Ponsin added 25 kills and standout setter Joseph Rocha ended with 90 assist on the day.
El Camino earned the No. 3 position after winning two of its first three contests. The Warriors swept Golden West earlier last week, fell to Orange Coast and then swept Irvine Valley in the OCC Quad. In its 29-27, 25-23, 25-19 win over IVC last Saturday, the Warriors ended with 42 digs and 21 block assists. Luke Grafton had an impressive 20 digs in the victory.
Rounding out the top five teams were Miramar, which bounced back from a three-set loss to Long Beach City with a nice four-set win over Santa Barbara City last Friday, and Irvine Valley, which beat Antelope Valley in four sets last week and then dropped its two matches at the OCC Quad on Saturday. The full top 10 poll can be viewed below.
(Brent Shaver, CCCMVCA)
CCCMVCA STATE POLL (Feb. 5) | ||
RK | School | Record |
1. | Orange Coast | 2-0 |
2. | Long Beach City | 2-1 |
3. | El Camino | 2-1 |
4. | San Diego Miramar | 1-1 |
5. | Irvine Valley | 1-2 |
6. | Santiago Canyon | 1-0 |
7. | Santa Barbara City | 0-1 |
8. | Golden West | 0-1 |
9. | Fullerton | 1-0 |
10. | Moorparl | 1-0 |
Others: San Diego Mesa |