Orange Coast standout Jordan Hoppe was named the Orange Empire Conference Men's Volleyball Most Valuable Player and Ed Rapp of Fullerton was picked as the conference's Coach of the Year, as voted on by the conference's head coaches at the postseason meeting in late April.
This was the first year that the conference sponsored men's volleyball.
Hoppe, whose hard work and determination helped lead the Pirates to 17 straight wins to end the regular season and the Orange Empire Conference title, finished the regular season with 205 kills, 111 digs and 26 aces. In conference play, Hoppe led the way with 14 aces and he finished tied for second in conference in kills (87) and fourth in digs (47).
Sophomore outside hitter Justin Kam and sophomore middle blocker Austin Marriott each earned first-team, all-conference honors for the Pirates.
Kam notched 199 kills, 90 digs and 39 total blocks for the OCC offense, while in the middle, Marriott ripped 50 kills with just 10 errors and added 47 total blocks on defense during the regular season.
On the All-OEC second team, Coast had three players honored.
Freshman setter Colby Elder finished the 2017 regular season with 427 assists to go along with 77 digs and 13 aces.
Freshman middle blocker Bradley Hankus led the Pirates with 11 solo blocks and 64 total blocks to go along with 69 kills.
Freshman libero Chase Moothart came on strong as the season developed and notched 50 digs, while his 25 service aces were second only to Hoppe for the team lead.
The six players helped Orange Coast go on to win three more matches in a row in the postseason and claim the CCCAA State Championship.
OCC swept El Camino, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21, in the title match on Apr. 29 at LA Pierce College.
Fullerton had quite a first season as a program under Rapp, the long-time women's coach for the Hornets.
Rapp led the Hornets to a 12-8 overall record during the regular season and a 4-4 mark for third place in the conference.
Fullerton was one of three teams from the conference along with OCC and IVC to make the playoffs.
The Hornets were paced by sophomore opposite Manny Andrade, sophomore setter Dale Irvin and freshman middle blocker Kyle Young, who were each named first team all-conference. Freshman middle blocker Jordan Von Borstel was named second team.
Andrade was one of the leaders in kills in the state all season and paced the conference in total kills with 255 during the regular season, while Irvin was second in the conference in assists.
IVC, which finished second in the conference to Orange Coast, had two first-team and three second-team honorees. Freshman middle blocker Matt August and freshman setter Austin McBain were each picked to the first team. Through the end of the regular season, August averaged 3.03 kills, hit at a .411 percentage, which led the state, and also ranked second in the state in blocks at 1.33 per set.
McBain was first in the conference and second in the state in assists at 10.57 per set.
Golden West had sophomore outside hitter Kysen Olsen and sophomore libero Trevor Robison named first team all-conference, while sophomore middle blocker Arturo Alday was picked to the second team.
And Santiago Canyon, also in its first year as a program, had freshman opposite Andrew Desrochers named to the second team.
Coach of the Year
Ed Rapp - Fullerton
MVP
Jordan Hoppe - OH - Orange Coast
1st Team all-OEC
Manny Andrade - Opp - Fullerton
Matt August - MB - Irvine Valley
Dale Irvin - S - Fullerton
Justin Kam - OH - Orange Coast
Austin Marriott - MB - Orange Coast
Austin McBain - S - Irvine Valley
Kysen Olsen - OH - Golden West
Trevor Robison - Lib - Golden West
Kyle Young - MB - Fullerton
2nd Team all-OEC
Arturo Alday - MB - Golden West
Andrew Desrochers - Opp - Santiago Canyon Colby Elder - S - Orange Coast
Patrick Furlong - OH - Irvine Valley
Bradley Hankus - MB - Orange Coast
Ruben Lopez - OH - Irvine Valley
Chase Moothart - Lib - Orange Coast
Brennan To - OH - Irvine Valley
Jordan Von Borstel - MB - Fullerton