Orange Coast sophomore standout setter Colby Elder was named the Orange Empire Conference Men's Volleyball Most Valuable Player and Travis Turner of Coast was picked as the conference's Coach of the Year, as voted on by the conference's head coaches last week.
This was the second year that the conference sponsored men's volleyball.
The Pirates ran away with their second straight OEC title and Elder helped lead the way. OCC finished the regular season with a record of 18-2 overall and was 8-0 in conference. Orange Coast also finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the state.
Elder guided the team to a .298 hitting percentage and 12.09 kills per set on the year. He averaged 7.21 assists per set and 1.35 digs per set. In conference, he was even better, averaging 8.17 assists and 1.70 digs per set. Elder had a season-best 58 assists in Orange Coast's five-set, come from behind victory at Fullerton on Mar. 21. And he recorded back-to-back 44 and 45 assist performances in five-set wins over Fullerton and Irvine Valley to end the regular season.
The conference added three more special awards this year with Golden West sophomore opposite being picked as offensive player of the year, Orange Coast sophomore middle blocker Will Donald selected as defensive player of the year and Irvine Valley sophomore Austin McBain being honored as setter of the year. The 6-6 Kim ended with 216 kills on the season and averaged 4.00 kills per set for the Rustlers. He also paced his team in digs at 1.96 per set. The 6-4 Donald averaged 1.52 blocks per set and ended with 79 total block on the year. He also hit .386 for the Pirates and averaged 1.65 kills per set. McBain averaged 10.27 assists per set and helped the Lasers hit .295 as a team.
Orange Coast, Irvine Valley and Golden West each had two players named first team all-conference with Fullerton earning three first-team nods. Sophomore middle blocker Bradley Hankus and freshman outside hitter Kyle McCauley were Orange Coast's selections, sophomore outside hitter Matt August and sophomore outside hitter Patrick Furlong represented Irvine Valley and freshman setter and outside hitter Enzo Boggio and freshman outside hitter Luke Davis were Golden West's picks for the first team. Freshman outside hitter and middle blocker Kevin Poku, sophomore outside hitter Alex Serrano and sophomore middle blocker Kyle Young were first-teamers for Fullerton.
OCC's McCauley ranked second in the conference in kills per set at 3.90, IVC's August was third at 3.08 and the Lasers' Furlong was fourth at 3.30 per set. August led the conference in hitting percentage at .470 with Fullerton's Young in second at .339 and McCauley in third at .306. August also paced the conference in blocks per set at 1.93 with OCC's Donald in second at 1.52 and Hankus third at 1.25 per set.
Behind Orange Coast, Irvine Valley went 15-5 overall and 5-3 in conference with Fullerton going 11-7 and 5-3 in conference. Irvine Valley and Orange Coast each won CCCAA State Championships quarterfinal matches last week. The two teams will meet in the semifinals of the State Championships on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Fullerton College.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Travis Turner - Orange Coast
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Colby Elder - S - Orange Coast
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Joshua Kim - OPP - Golden West
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Will Donald - MB - Orange Coast
SETTER OF THE YEAR
Austin McBain - Irvine Valley
1ST TEAM ALL-OEC
Matt August - MB - Irvine Valley
Enzo Boggio - S/OH - Golden West
Luke Davis - MB - Golden West
Patrick Furlong - OH - Irvine Valley
Bradley Hankus - MB - Orange Coast
Kyle McCauley - OH - Orange Coast
Kevin Poku - OH/MB - Fullerton
Alex Serrano - OH - Fullerton
Kyle Young - MB - Fullerton
2ND TEAM ALL-OEC
Andrew Desrochers - OPP/MB - Santiago Canyon
Garrett Geiger - OH - Fullerton
Matthew Johnson - OH - Orange Coast
Jacob Kemp - MB - Golden West
Brian Marquez - S - Fullerton
Wyatt Henson – LB – Orange Coast
Christopher Solares - S - Santiago Canyon
Constan Tolentino - LB/DS - Golden West
Brennan To - OH - Irvine Valley
Kelsey Yogi - DS/LB - Irvine Valley
Stay connected with the Orange Empire Conference through social media. Follow the OEC on Twitter @SportsOEC. Check in with the Orange Empire on Facebook/SportsOEC.