Pirates sweep Vaqueros in season opener

COSTA MESA -- It was a solid opening night for the Orange Coast College men's volleyball team as the three-time defending state champs earned a three-set sweep over visiting Santa Barbara City College on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

Noah Keelin led the Pirates with nine kills and four digs, while Ashtonn Florentin knocked down seven kills and Andrew Kargas added five in Friday's 25-18, 25-21, 25-18 win. Setters Jase Fukushima and Korbin Francisco combined to dish out 28 assists, while Jacob Surette notched four kills and six total blocks. 

For the Vaqueros, Mykolas Petraitis had a team-best nine kills.

In a rematch of last year's state quarterfinals, the Pirates and Vaqueros traded points back and forth for most of the opening set. Finally, with Coast ahead 18-16, a 4-0 mini-run by the Pirates pushed the lead to 22-16 and the hosts took that momentum into an opening-set win.

Santa Barbara came out strong in the second set, thanks in large part to the strong play of Petraitis, who had his hand in the majority of SBCC's 10-3 run to start the set off. He had three kills, a block and five strong serves during a 5-0 Vaquero run that put OCC into an early hole.

But the Pirates showed why they've won the previous three state championships and chipped away at the deficit. a 6-1 outburst helped bring Coast to within a pair at 11-9, but SBCC withstood the push and still carried a 17-13 lead midway through the set.

But during a strong serving run by Fukushima, the Pirates used kills by Keelin and Florentin and a block by Adam Haidar to spark a 5-0 run, giving Coast an 18-17 advantage. 

Santa Barbara quickly answered back with three points in a row to lead 20-18, but one last 7-1 run by the Pirates helped OCC take full momentum of the match with a 2-0 set lead.

That momentum didn't waiver in the third set as OCC grabbed the early lead and never let it go, using several mini-runs to pull ahead, 20-13 and from there, the Pirates cruised their way to a straight-set win.

Coast will play at El Camino College on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before returning to the Peterson Gym on Friday against Fullerton College, beginning at 5 p.m.