PIRATES SWEEP VIKINGS TO WIN STATE TITLE!

NORWALK -- After three heartbreaking years, the Orange Coast College men's volleyball team found the top of the mountain and swept past defending champion Long Beach City College to capture the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association Men's Volleyball State Championship on Saturday at El Camino College.

Led by Tournament MVP Will Anderson's 10 kills and four aces, the No. 2 seeded Pirates (20-1) took care of the crucial points down the stretch and eliminated the top-seeded Vikings (18-3), 25-22, 25-21, 25-22 to win the program's third state title under head coach Travis Turner, the program's eighth overall state title and the school's 95th overall state championship.

"We've been doing this all year," Turner said of this team's ability to never quit. "It's how you respond during the big moments and we've been responding all year. That was the best I've ever seen us block as a team and it came at the right time. I'm thrilled, but not surprised at how this team performed tonight."

Cash Adamsen added nine kills and four digs, while DiAeris McRaven came up big with seven kills and four blocks.

Setters Josh Friedman and Grayson Kling dished out a combined 29 assists, while libero Tyler Vedder anchored the defense with six digs.

LBCC actually earned more points on kills than did the Pirates (39-34), but 19 hitting errors and 11 service errors did the Vikings in. OCC limited its mistakes to just 14 hitting errors and just six service errors, while racking up a 16-6 advantage in total blocks.

For Anderson, it's been a three-year journey with the Pirates that saw the heartbreak of losing to Irvine Valley in the state semis in 2019 and in the OEC title match in 2021 as well as the frustration of losing the end of the 2020 campaign to the COVID pandemic.

"I think it's been a long time coming for us and I'm so happy for the guys," Anderson said. "I remember my first year and how disappointed I felt. I never wanted to feel that way again. We knew Long Beach would battle us, just like they did all year. We knew they'd get their runs, but we also knew we'd get our runs."

The Pirates, who trailed by multiple points in all three sets, started the night trailing 18-15, 21-19 and 22-21 before a late-set comeback stunned the top-seeded Vikings. Anderson ripped a kill to tie things at 22 and went to the service line and came up with a huge ace to put OCC up, 23-22.

From there, the boys in the middle ... Sam Warren and Jake Diddy -- who combined for five blocks up front ... notched back-to-back blocks to give Coast the final two points, stealing the opening set, 25-22.

Another slow start to the second set saw Long Beach jump out to a 13-7 advantage. Coby Prowse and Julian Zavala each had eight kills, while Alfred Dougherty notched seven for the Vikings.

But from there, Coast went on a 10-4 run to even the score at 17. Back-to-back aces by Anderson, kills by Anderson and Warren and a key ace from Grayson Kling helped the Pirates draw even.

It stayed even at 21 until another crucial late run proved to be the difference in favor of the Pirates. An attack error by the Vikings, a bad set by the Vikings and a pair of Anderson kills helped push OCC to the 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third, for the third time in three sets, Coast trailed early as the Vikings rode the emotion of their crowd to a 15-10 advantage.

But in the biggest, and most important run of the night, the Pirates came alive and went on a 14-2 run to lead, 24-17, putting Coast one point away from the title. Five different Pirates earned kills and the LBCC errors began to mount down the stretch.

Coast stubbed its toe a bit as Long Beach hung on for dear life with a 5-0 run to make it 24-22 before an emphatic kill by McRaven ended the match and gave the Pirates the title.

"We may have started slow in each set, but we always finish strong," Anderson said. "This team, they are my brothers. I love this team. We got so close this year as a group and while I loved this season ... I'm also sad that it's over."