Pirates' quest for fourth straight title begins on Friday

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COSTA MESA -- The three-time defending state champion Orange Coast College men's volleyball team will begin its quest for four in a row when the Pirates host Irvine Valley College in the Southern California Regional playoffs on Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m. inside the Peterson Gym.

For the second-seeded Pirates (20-3), this will be their toughest test of their incredible four-year run. After losing the Orange Empire Conference title to top-seeded Golden West, Coast will now be in the same bracket with the rival Lasers (15-7), Long Beach City College (14-7) and No. 3-seeded San Diego Mesa (19-3), who lost to OCC for the state championship last season.

But, the Pirates are STILL the No. 2-seeded team in the state for a reason and that reason is ... they're still the three-time defending champs and still a program that will be hard to beat in this postseason. In spite of three losses, Coast still ripped off 15 wins by way of three-set sweeps and OCC has won more five-set marathons (three) then they have lost (two) this year so winning that all-important 15-point fifth set is something the Pirates are familiar with. 

Against the Lasers this year, Coast dominated the Lasers at OCC (25-9, 25-19, 25-16), but needed some fifth-set heroics to top IVC in Irvine on April 9 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25, 15-7). 

OCC's top hitter this year has been sophomore outside hitter Noah Keelin with 229 kills to go along with 76 digs, 27 aces and 37 total blocks. Sophomore opposite Kam Vakilian has been a solid option for Coast in 2025, ripping 151 digs to go along with 52 total blocks and 17 aces.

In the middle, sophomore Jacob Surrette (133 kills) and Adam Haidar (54 kills) have combined for 117 total blocks.

Setter Jase Fukushima has dished out 462 assists and is second on the team with 73 digs for the Pirates, while Keegin Christenson has added 240 assists as a solid second option. If the Pirates can add to their 158 service aces and limit the service errors, that bodes well for the hosts against their longtime rivals.

For the Lasers, while they HAVE struggled against the elite teams in this year's playoffs, don't try and convince SD Mesa of that. IVC went to Mesa College and pulled off a five-set upset (22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 20-18) on March 26 so this is a team that needs to be taken seriously. OCC's five-set win might have been a blessing to the Pirates to keep their attentions on the task at hand without looking past the Lasers in this opening round.

Freshman opposite Travis Kaufman led IVC with 180 kills this year, followed by Spencer York (122), Jack McCrew (115) and Tucker McClain (100). 

IVC's offense goes through freshman setter Bryce Nohava with 552 assists to go along with 33 kills and 89 digs. Freshman libero Cage Gonzalez has been impressive for the Lasers with a team-best 170 digs. 

The winnner of Friday's playoff matchup will take on the winner of LBCC/SD Mesa on Thursday at OCC in the semifinals of the 3C2A Men's Volleyball State Championship, hosted by Orange Coast College. 

As a reminder ... 

Ticket prices, as set by the 3C2A, are:

$12 - General Admission

$8 - All identified students, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over, and children less than 12 years of age.