Coast comes up short to Vikings in State Finals
LONG BEACH -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team fought hard and pushed top-seeded Long Beach City College to the limit, but in the end, the host Vikings were too much to overcome as they won the 2012 California Community College Athletic Association Men's Volleyball State Championship on Saturday night.
Led by tournament MVP Rob McClean's 15 kills, five block assists and three digs, the Vikings topped the Pirates in four games, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24 for their first state title since 2009 and fourth since 2004.
For OCC (15-5), a team that started 4-4 used heart and determination to advance to the Final Four for the sixth straight season, but that was little consolation to the team shortly after the match.
"It's rough -- we had a chance to win this match, but we just couldn't put it together at the right time," OCC head coach Travis Turner said. "Once this team gained some experience at playing at this level, we really came together and played some great matches. Tonight, we made too many mistakes and came up a little short."
Freshman standout Dillon Emery (pictured left) led the Pirates with 30 kills, while Chris Van Vuuren added 10. Michael Lakin came up with a team-best seven digs, while Victor Schaefer added six. Also with six digs was setter Michael Ensign, who dished out 46 assists. Both Emery and Van Vuuren were named to the All-Tournament Team following the match.
Also on the All-Tournament team was Aniefre Etim-Thomas, who came up with 11 kills and nine total blocks for the Vikings (17-2), while Max Wechsung (All-Tournament) and Brett Anema each added nine. Wechsung and Dean Pollema combined for 46 assists, while Jonathan Schaefer notched seven digs.
In the opening game, both teams went back and forth early on before a 5-1 run by the Vikings gave them a 13-9 lead -- a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. Every time the Pirates would score, Long Beach would respond with a point of its own. In fact, OCC had just two two-point runs the rest of the opening game.
The "big run" went to the Pirates in Game 2 as Coast jumped ahead 9-3 thanks to an 8-1 outburst. Strong serving by Van Vuuren (pictured right) and some errant returns by the Vikings helped bring momentum to the side of the Pirates.
However, the Vikings kept fighting and began to slowly chip away into an OCC lead that was still at six at 17-11. Finally, a 12-6 run by LBCC evened the game at 23 as the Viking-heavy crowd of 1,000 roared their approval.
But the Pirates maintained their composure and regained the lead on an Emery kill, making it 24-23. From there, a LBCC return sailed wide and Coast evened the match at one game apiece.
In Game 3, it was the Vikings who took advantage of a big run, using a 9-2 outburst to take a 17-9 lead. LBCC had six set-point opportunities at 24-18 and needed four of them as a late run by the Pirates made things interesting, but a kill by Jonathan Schaefer finally ended things and the Vikings grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match.
Game 4 looked like a runaway for the Vikings as they held a 24-19 lead and were one point from the state title, but the Pirates fought back. After a long serve by the Vikings, kills by Van Vuuren and Austin Bagby made it 24-22, forcing Long Beach into a timeout.
Ensign came up big with a block to make it 24-23 before a Van Vuuren kill evened the game at 24 as OCC fought off five straight match points, stunning the Vikings and bringing the OCC side of the gym to its feet.
On the next point, the Pirates had an opportunity to take the lead, but their kill attempt sailed wide, putting Long Beach back out in front. Finally, on LBCC's sixth match point, an OCC return ripped into the net, ending the match.
"I'm so proud of these guys," Turner said. "This team might not have been the most talented team, but they worked harder than any team I've ever had and they should be proud for how far they've gone this year. With a bunch of guys coming back and a talented group of recruits, I'm real excited about what next year will bring for us."
