Men's volleyball state title up for grabs this week
(TORRANCE)-- The stage is set for Thursday and the start of the 2022 California Community College Athletics Association Men's Volleyball State Championships hosted at the El Camino College Gym Complex.
The four qualifying teams are quite familiar with each other.
In the first semifinal set for 5 p.m., No. 2 seed and Orange Empire Conference Champions Orange Coast College takes on No. 3 Irvine Valley, which finished second in the conference during the regular season.
Orange Coast won both meetings between the teams this season, scoring 3-0 sweeps in both matches on Mar. 11 at IVC and Mar. 30 at OCC.
In the second semifinal set for 7 p.m., No. 1 seed and Western State Conference Champion Long Beach City will take on host college and No. 4 seed El Camino.
The top-seeded Vikings claimed the 2022 WSC title with a 3-0 win over the Warriors in the final match of the regular season on Apr. 12.
The Warriors were at the top of the standings after defeating the Vikings in four sets on Mar. 11 at the ECC Gym Complex.
They won 10 straight conference matches before falling to the Vikings in the last match of the year.
ADMISSION INFORMATION
El Camino College will be hosting the 2022 CCCAA State Championships on Thursday, April 21 and Saturday, April 23 at the ECC Gym Complex in Torrance, Calif.
Admission is as follows:
General Admission: $12
Students, Staff, Faculty, Seniors 60-older and Children 12-under: $8
The CCCAA State Championships are a cashless event. Tickets for each day along with gameday programs can be purchased via HomeTown Ticketing. All sales are final and no refunds will be issued.
The link to purchase tickets and gameday programs for Thursday's semifinals can be purchased at the following link:
https://cccaa.hometownticketing.com/embed/all
WATCH IT LIVE!
The 2022 CCCAA State Championships will be live streamed for free via Bay Area Online Sports Network (BAOSN). The matches may be viewed at the following link:
MEDIA CREDENTIAL REQUESTS
Any media wishing to be credentialed for any of the matches at the 2022 CCCAA State Championships should submit a request to the following:
Rafael Guerrero, ECC Sports Information Director/CCCSIA State SID for Event: rguerrero@elcamino.edu
Mike Robles, CCCAA Director of Communications: mrobles@cccaasports.org
Requests should be submitted no later than 24 hours prior to the first scheduled match at the CCCAA State Championships.
ABOUT THE LONG BEACH CITY VIKINGS (No. 1 SEED: 17-2, 11-1 WESTERN STATE CONFERENCE)
The Vikings are the defending CCCAA State Champion. In 2019, they defeated Irvine Valley in three sets to claim their 10th state title since 1976. It was the last time the CCCAA State Championships were contested as the 2020 and 2021 seasons were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Vikings were the first team to punch their ticket to the 2022 CCCAA State Championships after scoring a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-12) victory over No. 8 San Diego Mesa on Friday night at Long Beach City.
Kyler Tufuga led the state during the regular season with a 3.36 digs per set average. Erik Hernandez led the Vikings in kills with 185 and averaged 4.02 kills per set. He was aided offensively by Julian Zavala with 147 total kills on the year and a 2.94 kills per set average.
As a team, the Vikings finished the regular season tied for the state lead in assists per game with an average of 11.32. They were second in the state with 713 total assists and their setter duo of Sean Nguyen (346) and Joseph Rocha (292) combined to serve the Vikings to a state leading .337 attack percentage.
The Vikings enter the CCCAA State Championships riding an eight-match winning streak with their last loss coming to their semifinal opponent, El Camino, on March 11 at the ECC Gym Complex.
ABOUT THE ORANGE COAST COLLEGE PIRATES (No. 2 SEED: 18-1, 8-0 ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENECE)
The Pirates were one of two teams in the entire playoff field that went undefeated in conference play to win the title. Overall, they have lost just one match on the season and come into the state championships riding a 13-match winning streak. They boast the best overall winning percentage in the state (.947).
In the quarterfinals, the Pirates swept No. 7 Moorpark 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-18) at Peterson Gym. Cash Adamsen led the way offensively with 15 kills and three aces. Will Anderson added nine kills with three aces and Zach Weston chipped in with eight kills and four blocks.
During the regular season, Anderson led the Pirates and the entire state with 221 total kills. His 3.88 kills per set average ranked third in the CCCAA.
The team also finished the regular season ranked second in the state in service aces with 139 behind only San Diego Miramar.
Setter Josh Friedman ranked second in the CCCAA with an 8.33 assists per set average. He and teammate Grayson Kling combined for 566 of the team's 702 total assists, a total that ranked third in the state during the season.
ABOUT THE IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE LASERS (No. 3 SEED: 17-4, 5-2 ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE)
The Lasers finished second in the Orange Empire Conference with their only losses coming against conference champion Orange Coast.
In the quarterfinals, the Lasers dominated No. 6 Santa Monica 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-18). The Lasers attacked at a blistering .539 clip against the Corsairs, committing just four hitting errors in the win. In the second set alone, the Lasers posted a dynamic .722 attacking percentage to runaway with the frame. Karl Stenlund led the team with 14 kills and posted a .591 attack percentage. Trevor Weinert added 10 kills on 12 swings without an error (.833) and Jaden Churchill chipped in with 10 kills on a .500 attack percentage.
The Lasers were led offensively by Colin Chillingworth during the regular season with 136 kills. Stenlund ranked second on the team with 126 kills.
The Lasers led the state as a team with 751 total assists, 38 more than second-place Long Beach. Setters Donovan Gudino (387) and Andrew Perez (297) drove the offensive flow and helped set the team to a .278 attack percentage, which ranked fourth in the CCCAA.
The Lasers also had a dominant presence at the net, leading the state with 210 total blocks. Josh Beymer led the CCCAA with 83 total blocks on the season. Weinert was second on the team with 52 blocks, which also tied for the sixth most in the state.
ABOUT THE EL CAMINO COLLEGE WARRIORS (No. 4 SEED: 14-5, 10-2 WESTERN STATE CONFERENCE)
The Warriors finished second in the WSC behind Long Beach after holding the top spot in the conference for the majority of WSC action. They defeated the Vikings in four sets on March 11 and won 10-straight conference matches.
But, ultimately, the Warriors lost to the Vikings on the final day of the regular season, ceding the conference crown.
The host Warriors advanced to the 2022 CCCAA State Championships thanks to a 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-22) over No. 5 and Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Champions San Diego Miramar on Saturday night. The Warriors capitalized on a number of Jets miscues to score the victory. They attacked at just a .207 percentage as a team but got plenty of help from their opponents as the Jets committed 25 attacking errors and 20 service errors.
The Warriors also dominated at the net as five players recorded multiple blocks. Gunnar Brydon led the way with five blocks while Travis Hannemann (one solo) and Spencer Isley each added four. Vladimir Kubr and Dylan Garcia each had three blocks in the victory.
Kubr was the primary distributor for the team this season as he recorded 501 assists, which ranked second in the state. His 8.64 assists per set average also ranked second in the CCCAA as he set the Warriors to a .277 attack percentage, the fifth best mark in the state.
Offensively, the Warriors were led by Travis Hannemann with 196 kills and a 3.16 kills per set average. Andrew White was second on the team with 165 kills but he attacked at a .323 percentage.
Middle blocker Ethan Morgan patrolled the net with 71 blocks, the second most in the state. Morgan also tallied 102 kills on a .439 attacking percentage.
Courtesy Rafael Guerrero, State SID for CCCAA Championships