Orange Coast sweep throttles top of CCCMVCA Poll

Previous Polls l CCCMVCA Poll (PDF)

IRVINE - There was a shakeup at the top of the California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll this week. 

And it happened with a sweep. 

Previous No. 3 Orange Coast defeated tied for No. 1 Irvine Valley, 25-14, 25-14, 26-24, last Wednesday night in an Orange Empire Conference opener at IVC. Sebastian Lara, last week’s highlighted player of the week, led the way for OCC with 18 kills. 

Orange Coast moved up a notch to No. 2 in this week’s poll with Irvine Valley dropping a spot to No. 3. Orange Coast is tied at the top of the OEC with No. 8 Santiago Canyon at 2-0. 

Long Beach City, which was tied with Irvine Valley, holds the No. 1 position on its own now. The Vikings have a record of 9-1 and are 4-0 in the Western State Conference. 

Long Beach has won nine straight matches and even more impressive, the last six in a row have been sweeps. 

Matthew Pennala is averaging 2.68 kills per set and Sean Nguyen averages 9.16 assists per set for the Vikings. 

After Long Beach, Orange Coast and Irvine Valley, San Diego Mesa remains a steady No. 4. The Olympians have the most wins in the state (12-3 overall) and lead the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference at 2-0. 

San Diego Mesa is on a five-match win streak and defeated No. 7 Miramar in five sets last Wednesday and then Palomar in four sets on Friday. 

In the big win over the Jets, TJ Letuligasenoa had 17 kills and hit .432 to lead the way. 

No. 5 in the poll is Santa Barbara City, which swept its third straight opponent last Friday night. The Vaqueros topped No. 10 Antelope Valley, 25-19, 25-14, 25-22, to improve to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the WSC. Troy Fitzgerald had seven kills and six blocks and Carter Cottrell finished with 19 assists and four aces. 

Moorpark comes in at the No. 6 spot after winning three straight matches, including beating No. 9 Santa Monica last Friday night at home, 25-19, 20-25, 25-13, 25-17. 

Michael Stahl had 14 kills an Ebba Tefera added 11 kills for the Raiders. 

The rest of the top 10 includes Miramar at No. 7, Santiago Canyon at No. 8, Santa Monica and No. 10 and Antelope Valley. 

State leaders include Brandon Ta of LA Pierce is tops in kills per set (479). Irvine Valley’s Adam Schulte leads in digs per set (3.83), San Diego Mesa’s TJ Letuligasenoa is best in hitting percentage (.400), Moorpark’s Jaxon Rust leads in blocks per set (1.43) and Irvine Valley’s Demetre Gossett is tops in aces (0.74). 

Santiago Canyon is first in team hitting percentage at .324. 

Key matches this week include No. 2 Orange Coast at No. 8 Santiago Canyon on Wednesday, and No. 5 Santa Barbara at No. 9 Santa Monica, No. 1 Long Beach City at No. 6 Moorpark and No. 4 San Diego Mesa at No. 7 Miramar on Friday. 

Highlighted student-athlete of the week: Jaxon Rust (Middle Blocker, Fr., Moorpark)

Rust, a 6-3 middle blocker, leads the state in blocks per set at 1.43 for the sixth-ranked Raiders. He has hit .553 and averaged 5.67 blocks per match over the last three contests. Moorpark (7-4 overall) won all three matches. Rust tied a season-high with eight blocks in a four-set win over El Camino, followed that up with four blocks in a sweep of Antelope Valley last Wednesday on the road and then had five blocks in Moorpark’s four-set win over Santa Monica last Friday at home.

(Brent Shaver, CCCMVCA)