The Orange Empire Conference men's volleyball season starts on Wednesday night with two matches on the schedule. 

Irvine Valley plays at Fullerton at 6 p.m. and Santiago Canyon at Golden West. Orange Coast has the bye the first week. 

Golden West will play at Santiago Canyon on Friday with Irvine Valley hosting Fullerton. Matches are at 6 p.m. Orange Coast will start its season this Friday with a home, non-conference match against Antelope Valley. 

It will be more than a year since OEC men's volleyball teams actually competed in the court. The squads had finished their non-conference schedules in March of 2020 and were one match into OEC play when the season was halted due to COVID. 

Teams were all close last year too. Orange Coast had a record of 7-4, Santiago Canyon was also 7-4, Golden West was 7-5, Irvine Valley was 6-7 and Fullerton had a mark of 5-6. 

Coaches have been working hard with the great student athletes and are ready for the start of a new season this Wednesday. 

Orange Coast, which had won five matches in a row before the season was stopped in 2020, is led by sophomore team captain and setter Eric Beebe. He has already committed to Long Beach State. 

Another committed and top player for OCC is sophomore middle blocker Troy Culp. 

Sophomore libero Cole Tran will bring the scrambling defense for the Pirates. He has been offered and is deciding among the likes of UC Irvine and Concordia. 

OCC coach Travis Turner highlighted the strong leadership that Beebe and Tran will provide to the program on and off the court. 

Turner is also excited about incoming sophomore outside hitter Calvin Sanborn. He was at Santa Barbara City last year and has already committed to Long Beach State. 

Turner said experience with a number of players returning will be one of the main keys for Orange Coast this year. OCC will be red-shirting freshmen players this year due to a limited season. 

"To see these kids compete again with OCC on their jersey and with all of the OEC coaches," Turner said. "We have a great vibe amongst all of us in the OEC and I look forward to seeing all the coaches again."  

Irvine Valley coach Ryan Windisch is ready to be back in the gym. 

"I am most excited for the boys to step on the court and put on a jersey again," he said "After losing a season last year, they have not had any organized competition in over a year. The feeling of competing with your teammates is something that cannot be explained. I cannot wait to see the joy that playing again brings not only our team but the other teams as well." 

Irvine Valley's top returners include freshman outside hitter Colin Chillingworth, freshman middle blocker Trevor Weinart, freshman opposite Garret Schnitker and sophomore outside hitter Max Wise. 

Windisch also said to keep an eye on freshman outside hitter JT Demure, freshman libero Adam Schulte, freshman outside hitter Karl Stenlund. 

But Windisch said that the depth of the team will be important. He plans on getting contributions from a number of players. 

"At IVC we take pride in our strength as an entire unit," Windisch said. "From the starting group to the redshirts we are confident that everyone is all in on a common goal. The brotherhood these guys have created even during a pandemic is something to be remembered. Now to get to compete with one another is going to make it even more special." 

Fullerton associate head coach James Anderson likes his squad. 

"In the short amount of time, our team has come together and bought in to the culture of Fullerton College Men's Volleyball," he said. "We couldn't be more excited to compete after the long pause of this year. Looking forward to seeing how far we can push ourselves and build together as a team." 

Anderson's top returners include outside hitter Leonard Mazuco Jaroszewski, sophomore outside hitter and libero Anthony Popoca, sophomore outside hitter David Lucio and libero Hunter Hin. 

The Fullerton coach is also expecting big things from freshman setter Evan Shank, freshman middle blocker Max Furtek and freshman setter Ryan Kian. 

Release by Brent Shaver, Irvine Valley SID & Men's Volleyball Representative