Orange Coast slams way into state championship match with four-set win over Moorpark

TORRANCE, Calif. - Sophomore Sebastian Lara powered No. 3 Orange Coast to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16) victory over No. 7 Moorpark in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletics Association Men's Volleyball State Championships on Thursday night at the El Camino College Gym Complex. 

Lara slammed down 20 kills for the Pirates (17-3), his 11th double-digit kill performance of the season and two kills shy of his season high. He attacked at a blistering .366 percentage (20-5-41) while teammate Myles Henderson pitched in with 10 kills on 22 swings with just one error (.409). 

Setter Brock Henderson dished out 20 assists and Hide Nakamura led the defense with 11 digs. Niall Finnegan patrolled the net with five blocks.

For the Raiders (13-7) Ebba Tefera led the offense with 11 kills and Garrett Ream dished out 23 assists in a losing effort. The Raiders were vying for their third ever appearance in the finals and first since 2010, their only state championship.

The Pirates now advance to the 3C2A State Championship match for the eighth time since 2010 and will look for their fourth state title in that span and ninth title overall.

On Thursday, the Pirates looked to be cruising into the final after relatively easy wins in the first two sets. The Pirates attacked at a .357 clip in the opener with just two errors and then went .333 in the second with 11 kills and four errors on 21 attempts. 

Meanwhile, the Raiders could not get out of their own way as they attacked at a .000 percentage (9-9-30) in the first set and then went .091 (8-6-22) in the second. 

But the Raiders scrapped back in the third as they tallied 15 kills in the third with just two errors. Tefera anchored the attack in the third, smashing down six kills on six swings.

Lara did his best to lead the Pirates to a sweep with six kills on 11 swings in the third but it was not enough.

In the fourth, the Raiders kept riding the momentum and took a 5-0 lead to start things off. But the Pirates righted the ship, going on an 11-3 scoring run to take an 11-8 lead. After a service error made it 11-9, the Pirates rallied off five straight points to take a 16-9 advantage and they never looked back. 

The Pirates will now await the winner of the second semifinal between No. 1 Long Beach and No. 4 Moorpark. 

(Rafael Guerrero, El Camino College Athletics)