Pirates advance to State Final Four after sweeping Vaqueros

COSTA MESA -- The home cooking will last all the way to the finish line for the Orange Coast College as the Pirates defeated Santa Barbara City College in three sets in the opening round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Friday inside the Peterson Gym.

With the win, the Pirates (18-0), top-seed of this year's playoffs and two-time defending state champions, will take on longtime rival, Long Beach City College (13-6) in the second of two state semifinal matchups at the 3C2A Men's Volleyball State Championships on Thursday at OCC, beginning at 7 p.m. In the other semifinal matchup, it will be San Diego Mesa (20-4) taking on Golden West (16-4) on Thursday at OCC, beginning at 5 p.m. The winners of both matches will play for all the marbles on Saturday at OCC, beginning at 7 p.m.

In the win over the eighth-seeded Vaqueros (9-9), Myles Henderson paced the offense with 11 kills and four digs, while teammate Cole Hauser added nine kills and a pair of total blocks. Kam Vakilian came through from the right side with eight kills, while Andrew Robbins anchored the middle with five kills and four total blocks.

Setter Landon Seymour dished out 21 assists, while teammate Jase Fukushima added 13, while libero Jacob Bayston anchored the defense with eight digs.

With the win, the Pirates once again return to their home away from home ... the State Finals, where they make their eighth straight Final Four Appearance, dating back to 2013 (No State Finals in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID pandemic).

Thursday's matchup with the Vikings will be even more familiarity for Coast, who defeated LBCC in the Championship Finals the last two seasons. 

Hauser as been the team leader in kills throughout the season with 139, with Henderson close behind with 128. Vakilian provides an incredible third weapon from the opposite position with 106 kills, while Robbins (66 kills) and Surrette (48) give the Pirates even more point-producing options. Henderson and Fukushima have combined for 560 assists for Coast this year, while on defense, the Pirates enter Thursday's matchup with the Vikings with a +103 differential in digs (503-400). 

For the Vikings, a surprising 0-5 start has been quickly forgotten about, thanks to wins in 13 of their last 14 matches, including a five-set marathon win over Santa Monica in Saturday's SoCal Regional to earn the right to take on the Pirates in the playoffs, once again.

Sophomore opposite Shane Nhem has set the tone for the LBCC offense this year with 169 kills, with outside hitters Mohamed Benkrid (126 kills) and Kameron Tafunga (115) close behind their Viking teammate.

Setter Willy Wang paces the offense with 234 assists, while Tafunga has anchored the defense with 66 digs.

This will be the third meeting this season between the two storied programs. The Pirates topped the Vikings in three straight (25-21, 25-22, 25-12) in the second match of the John Altobelli Quad back on Feb. 3. Then, Coast went up to LBCC, where the Pirates pulled out a five-set win (25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-10) on Feb. 14.