Coast finishes strong with win over Moorpark

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team picked up its level of play and turned a tough matchup with Moorpark into a blowout, topping the Raiders in four games, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-12, on Thursday night inside the Peterson Gym.

It was a dominating performance by OCC freshman opposite Dillon Emery. The 6-foot-4 standout from Fountain Valley H.S. ripped a season-best 21 kills and served up six aces. In fact, his strong serving helped account for 23 points for the Pirates throughout the match.

Another strong effort came from freshman outside hitter John Christian, who contributed 13 kills of his own. Setter Michael Ensign dished out 44 assists for Coast (2-2).

For the Raiders, Tyler Peterson led the offense with eight kills, while teammate Joshua Duarte chipped in six.

A slow start by the Pirates put the hosts down 17-13 before the strong serving by Emery sparked a 5-0 run and an 18-17 OCC advantage.

But kills by Duarte and a block by Evan Litchfield helped put Moorpark back out in front, 22-20. That lead would be enough as both teams traded points until a Dustan Neary kill gave the Raiders a 25-23 Game 1 win.

Emery was the Game 2 star for the Pirates. With OCC trailing 8-7, his strong serves sparked a 9-0 run, putting the Coast up for good. Moorpark would get to within five (22-17), but that would be it as an Emery ace -- fittingly enough -- ended Game 2 and tied the match at a game apiece.

Another strong serving run -- this time by teammate Tim Frydendall -- sparked a 6-0 run, putting Coast up early (11-5) in Game 3. Again, the Raiders slowly chipped into the deficit and got to within striking distance, but the Pirates would not crumble down the stretch and closed the game out with a 6-1 run, including two more Emery aces.

The fourth game was all OCC as a plethora of hitting, serving and defensive mistakes by the Raiders doomed their fate. Runs of 8-0, 6-0 and 5-1 turned the final game into a blowout. Finally, on Emery's 21st kill, the match ended with the Pirates on top.

OCC will travel to UC Davis for a weekend tournament before returning to the Peterson Gym on Wednesday night against Santa Monica, beginning at 6 p.m.