Fireworks aplenty for 3C2A Men's Volleyball State Championship
COSTA MESA – Orange Coast College’s legendary Peterson Gym has seen plenty of sports highlights throughout its 70-year history, but this week’s upcoming 3C2A Men’s Volleyball State Championships, just might top the list.
With four top-flight teams going at it – Golden West, Orange Coast, San Diego Mesa and Santa Barbara City College – whoever wins this year’s title will have earned the moniker as the state’s best team.
In Thursday’s opening semifinal matchup, it will be the top-seeded Rustlers (21-2) taking on No. 5 SBCC (16-7), beginning at 5 p.m. Following that match, the host second-seeded and three-time defending state champion Pirates (21-3) will host No. 3 Mesa (20-3) in a rematch of last year’s state championship. The winner of both semifinal matches will play for all the marbles on Saturday night at OCC, beginning at 7 p.m. All three matches will be streamed by BAOSN.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown of each squad as they head into the State Final Four …
No. 1 Golden West College (21-2) – GWC head coach Nick Amado has his squad firing on all cylinders at exactly the right time. After knocking off rival Orange Coast from the top of the Orange Empire Conference and ending the Pirates’ seven-year conference title run, the Rustlers proceeded to roll past Santa Monica City College 25-22, 25-13, 25-18 to return to the State Final Four for the second year in a row.
GWC’s 1-2 punch of Aiden Powell and Kai Rodriguez have given the Rustlers two top-10 hitters in the same lineup, with Powell sixth in the state with 232 kills and Rodriguez 10th in the state with 223 kills. The Rustler duo also bring a solid defensive resume with them with Powell notching 143 digs, while Rodriguez added 112.
Middle blocker Aaron Greene has been a dominant force in the middle, leading the state with 85 total blocks with Owen Banner close behind with 58 blocks.
Setters John Braunstein and Jay Pearson have combined to dish out 785 assists, while the defense has been anchored by Joseph Nunez with 183 digs.
No. 2 Orange Coast College (21-3) – The three-time defending champs have had to take on the “A” game of every team in the state for the past four years and so far, head coach Travis Turner has had his guys up for the challenge. After a stumble to the powerhouse Rustlers in the conference finale, the Pirates were pushed to the brink of elimination against rival Irvine Valley in the SoCal Regionals. But OCC showed championship grit in fighting off two match-point opportunities in the fourth set and outlasting the Lasers in the fifth to return to the State Final Four for the 10th consecutive year.
Outside Hitter Noah Keelin leads a deep and talented Pirate squad with 229 kills, while sophomore opposite Kam Vakilian is a solid No. 2 option with 151 kills.
Setters Jase Fukushima and Keegin Christenson have combined to dish out 702 assists. OCC has plenty of blocking firepower with Vakilian and teammate Jacob Surrette combining for 114 total blocks.
Keelin (76 digs), Fukushima (73 digs) and libero Gabriel Armen-Nichter (71) have anchored the always-stingy Pirate defense throughout the season.
No. 3 San Diego Mesa College (20-3) – It was another impressive season for coach David Proffitt and last year’s state runners-up as the Olympians breezed through the 2025 season and earned a four-set win over Long Beach City College (25-20, 25-22, 34-36, 25-18) in the SoCal Regionals to earn a return trip to the State Final Four.
When you talk about the Olympians, the conversation begins and ends with sophomore slugger Trevor Clark. The 6-foot-10, UC Irvine-bound hitter led the state with an incredible 442 kills … 179 more than the second-most (263 by Antelope Valley’s David Buckley). Clark also has 120 digs and 29 total blocks to his stat sheet, so he is a force on both sides of the ball.
Julian Montes provides a solid No. 2 option with 165 kills, while state assists leader, Logan Shepard, has dished out 799 helpers throughout the season.
Defensive standout Rylan Koser is sixth in the state with 198 digs, with Shepard close behind with 125.
No. 5 Santa Barbara City College (16-7) – Head coach Bridget Kulesh helped come up with the perfect playoff game plan in the Southern California Regional Playoffs as the Vaqueros earned the lone “upset” of the playoffs with a five-set win over No. 4 Moorpark College (25-11, 21-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-13).
The depth of the Vaqueros cannot be denied. In the win over Moorpark, FIVE different SBCC players had 10-or-more kills. Tom Altankhuyag, who led the Vaqueros with 15 kills against the Raiders, enters Thursday’s semifinal matchup with the Rustlers with a team-best 158 kills, with Mykolas Petraitis close behind with 142.
Setter Rocky Brazier has been the go-to guy to move the ball around for SBCC, racking up 655 assists, which is third-best among all setters in the state.
Middle blockers Keegan Hubbard and Nick Schultz have combined for 115 total blocks for the Vaqueros in 2025, while Luke Steinert has anchored the SBCC defense with 147 digs.
(Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast College Athletics)