Stage is set for 3C2A Men's Volleyball State Championship
Playoff Bracket l Watch all matches ($12/day plus fees l Buy Tickets
COSTA MESA - Orange Coast College, the two-time defending state champions, will stay in its backyard in the hopes of making it three in a row, but Long Beach City, Golden West and San Diego Mesa will have something to say about that as these four teams get set to do battle inside OCC’s Peterson Gymnasium for the 2024 3C2A Men’s Volleyball State Championships.
In Thursday’s opening semifinal match, it will be the second-seeded Golden West College Rustlers (16-4) taking on the No. 3 San Diego Mesa College Olympians (20-4), while the nightcap will feature the top-seeded Pirates (18-0) against the No. 4 LBCC Vikings (13-6). The winner of these two matches will go at it on Saturday at 7 p.m. at OCC to decide the champion for 2024.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown, starting with the top-seeded Pirates.
ORANGE COAST COLLEGE (18-0) – Another year, another dominating season for head coach Travis Turner and his back-to-back defending state champion Pirates as they look to pull off the state three-peat and become the first team since L.A. Pierce – winners of four straight state titles (2000-03) – to win at least three in a row.
Coast, champions of the Orange Empire Conference for the seventh straight year, have rolled through their 2024 season with wins in all 18 matches (24 in a row dating back to last year), capturing wins in 54 of 60 sets this year, including a pair of five-set victories over Irvine Valley and Long Beach, showing the Pirates’ ability to finish strong in the clutch.
Sophomore outside hitter Cole Hauser has led the way for OCC with 139 kills, but the options for points are not limited on this talented squad. Fellow sophomore OH, Myles Henderson, is close behind Hauser with 128, while freshman opposite Kam Vakilian has been a steady third hitter with 106 kills.
Coast has a pair of quality setters, led by their team captain, Landon Seymour, who paces most of OCC’s offense with 345 assists, while teammate Jace Fukushima has added 215 assists.
Anchoring the Coast defense is freshman libero Jacob Bayston with 103 digs, leading the OCC defense to a +103 differential in digs (503-400).
A state crown this week would be the 10th such title for men’s volleyball in OCC school history and potentially would be the 100th state/national title in the history of Orange Coast College, becoming the first school in California to top 100 championships.
GOLDEN WEST COLLEGE (16-4) – GWC’s new head coach Nick Amado is no stranger to the spotlight of the 3C2A Men’s Volleyball State Championships. As a player, he was a part of Orange Coast College’s 2014 state championship squad and now, he’s looking to bring OCC’s longtime rival – Golden West – to the top of the men’s volleyball state championship mountain.
With only a pair of setbacks to unbeaten OCC as blemishes over their past eight matches, GWC earned the No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament with quality wins over Irvine Valley, Long Beach, and SD Mesa, among others.
Leading the offensive barrage for the Rustlers in 2024 has been freshman outside hitter Curtis Harper, who has a record 197 kills and 126 digs this year, while fellow freshman Reggie Al-hong has 128 kills and 109 digs.
Sophomore setter Jaden Kodongan and freshman Jay Pearson have both been setting well for the Rustlers, combining for 382 assists, while Kodongan has also anchored the defense with 145 digs … one of FOUR Rustler players with 100-or-more digs.
Winners of six men’s volleyball state championships, the Rustlers will look for their first crown since 2013 with a pair of wins this coming week.
SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE (20-4) – The lone member of the “20-win Club” entering the State Final Four, the Olympians have been a steady and dominant program in 2024, under head coach David Proffitt. After posting an 8-14 record two years ago, the Olympians turned the program around last year with a solid 18-6 mark and a State Final Four appearance, before falling to LBCC in the State Semifinals.
Proffitt and the 2024 Pacific Coast Conference-champion Olympians have picked up where they left off and earned wins in 20-of-24, including a pair of wins over perennial powerhouse Irvine Valley, including last week’s State Quarterfinals win in three sets over the Lasers.
FIVE San Diego Mesa players – Trevor Clark, Ricardo Lorja, Julian Montes, T.J. Letuligasenoa and Brandon Underwood – have 100 or more kills, with Clark leading the way with 194.
The majority of the SDMC offense goes through freshman setter Logan Shepard with 402 assists, while on defense, sophomore Cotton Pillsbury (127 digs) and Rylan Koser (120 digs) will be spending plenty of time on the Peterson Gymnasium floor, keeping points alive for the Olympians.
A state championship this weekend in men’s volleyball will be the first in San Diego Mesa College program history.
LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE (13-6) -- For the Vikings and head coach Angel Nikolov, a surprising 0-5 start has been quickly forgotten about, thanks to wins in 13 of their last 14 matches, including a five-set marathon win over Santa Monica in Saturday's SoCal Regional to earn the right to take on the Pirates in the playoffs, once again.
LBCC is hoping that the third time is the charm against the Pirates, having fallen to OCC in the state finals the past two seasons. Still, with six men’s VB state titles and several Final Four appearances during their successful history of the sport, the Vikings usually leave state tournaments with happy faces by the end of the event.
Sophomore opposite Shane Nhem has set the tone for the LBCC offense this year with 169 kills, with outside hitters Mohamed Benkrid (126 kills) and Kameron Tafunga (115) close behind their Viking teammate.
Setter Willy Wang paces the offense with 234 assists, while Tafunga has anchored the defense with 66 digs.
(Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA)