No. 1 Pirates roll to a convincing sweep over No. 2 Olympians

COSTA MESA -- On paper, it was a matchup between the top two ranked teams in all of California Community College men's volleyball.

In reality it was a 75-minute feeding frenzy for the state's No. 1-ranked Orange Coast College Pirates as they rolled to a 25-20, 25-13, 25-19 nonconference win over No. 2-ranked San Diego Mesa on Wednesday night inside the Peterson Gym.

Cole Hauser came out swinging and led the Pirates (6-0) with 15 kills and a .583 hitting percentage. Myles Henderson picked up 8 kills and three aces, while Kam Vakilian added six kills and a .508 hitting percentage. 

Landon Seymour and Jase Fukushima dished out a combined 35 assists, while Jacob Bayston anchored the OCC defense with seven digs.

Both teams carried momentum in the opening set as the two-time, defending-state-champion Pirates jumped out to a 12-7 advantage, only to see the Olympians storm back with a 7-1 run to grab a 14-13 lead.

It was tied at 16 when the Pirates picked up a key-5-0 run to grab the lead for good. A kill by Hauser and four unforced SD Mesa errors doomed the visitors as OCC closed out the opening set with kills from Jacob Surette and Hauser to give Coast a 1-0 lead in the match.

Mesa responded well early in the second set and jumped out to an 11-6 advantage. Kills from Trevor Clark, T.J. Letuligasenoa and Julian Montes put Coast on its heels for just a second. 

But from there, it was ALL-OCC as the Pirates picked up their game and played some of the best volleyball of the season, according to their head coach, Travis Turner.

With Seymour serving, Coast quickly ripped off five points in a row to tie the set at 11, forcing the Olympians into a time out.

Then, the points kept coming ... and coming ... and coming ... to the tune of a 29-4 avalanche that not only wrapped up the second set, 25-13, it helped Coast jump out to a commanding lead in the third and from there, the Pirates never looked back.

Hauser did his thing during that run, but several players picked up crucial points in that run, including middle blocker Peter Kelso, who finished with four kills during the second half of the match.

The loss is the second defeat to OCC for the Olympians, who drop to 8-2 for the season.

OCC returns to action on Friday at home against Palomar College, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Prior to the match, there will be a brief ceremony to honor last year's state championship squad as well as the state champion women's basketball program with a pair of banner unveilings in-between the 5 p.m. basketball game and the 7:30 p.m. volleyball match.