Orange Coast maintains No. 1 spot in CCCMVCA Poll

IRVINE - Two-time defending state champion Orange Coast remains the top team in the latest Men’s Volleyball Coaches Association State Poll.

Orange Coast has a record of 14-1 overall and is 6-1 in division action.

It swept both Santiago Canyon and Irvine Valley last week.

But this week gets interesting for the Pirates as they take on the No. 2 and No. 3 squads in the state. OCC hosts No. 3 Golden West on Wednesday and then travels to No. 2 San Diego Mesa.

Mesa handed Orange Coast its only loss of the season so far.

The Olympians also recorded two sweeps last week, beating Miramar at home and then Palomar on the road. Trevor Clark continues to lead the state in kills. He had 11 kills and hit .364 in the win over Palomar, while Logan Shepard recorded 35 assists.

Golden West kept the top three teams intact with a pair of victories last week.

The Rustlers have a record of 13-1 overall and 5-1 in division play.

Golden West swept at Irvine Valley, 25-15, 25-14, 25-17, on Wednesday behind eight kills each from Kai Rodriguez and Aidan Powell and 11 digs by Joseph Nunez.

Golden West hit .338 as a team on the night.

Moorpark, Santa Barbara City and Long Beacjh are the fourth, fifth and sixth teams in the rankings and Irvine Valley, Miramar, Santa Monica and Fullerton round out the top 10.

Santa Barbara had a nice 3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-19) win over Moorpark at home on Wednesday and moved to 8-5 overall. Joseph Cateralli and James Walker-Ziegler each recorded 11 kills in the win.

Moorpark rebounded with a sweep over LA Pierce on Friday. Jacob Knudsen finished with 10 kills and Ryan Ferguson had 23 assists for the Raiders in the win.

CCCMVCA State Top 10 (Mar. 18)
1. Orange Coast
2. San Diego Mesa
3. Golden West
4. Moorpark
5. Long Beach City
6. Santa Barbara City|
7. Irvine Valley
8. San Diego Miramar
9. Santa Monica
10. Fullerton

HIGHLIGHTED STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jase Fukushima – Orange Coast, setter
Fukushima has been the setter for Orange Coast the last two years. He led the Pirates to sweeps over Santiago Canyon and Irvine Valley last week to improve their record to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in divisional play. Fukushima finished with 15 assists and three digs in the 25-9, 25-19, 25-16 victory over the Lasers Friday.

He has starred on and off the court at Coast. Besides running the OCC offense, Fukushima is also a 4.0 grade point average student. “He is a good citizen
and very good athlete,” OCC coach Travis Turner said.