Men’s Volleyball: Pirates surge past El Camino
Whether it was a case of flirting with disaster or toying with the enemy, the Orange Coast College men’s volleyball team escaped any hint of defeat Wednesday.
The Pirates rallied from deficits in every game to claim a 25-21, 25-22, 26-24 nonconference triumph over visiting El Camino.
It was the third straight sweep for OCC, which improved to 4-0 and appears to have all the pieces necessary to reach the state final four for the ninth time in Coach Travis Turner’s 10 seasons at the helm.
OCC overcame a 17-13 deficit in the opening set, then survived a 19-17 deficit in the second. In the final set, the Pirates trailed, 21-17 and 24-23, before scoring the final three points of the match.
“We like to put our backs against the wall,” Turner said. “It’s going to catch up to us eventually. But our competitiveness is good.”
The Pirates’ unwillingness to relent helped them end the first set on a 12-4 run. It was an 8-3 OCC surge that allowed the hosts to close out the second set.
OCC finalized the first and third games with stuff blocks, and collected the second set by virtue of a Warriors’ service error.
El Camino had 11 of the match’s 20 missed serves and the Pirates’ eight aces doubled the total posted by the visitors, who fell to 1-1.
OCC freshman Gianluca Grasso, a Brazilian native who committed to UCLA, before running into residency issues and sitting out last season, fired an ace to open the match. His powerful arm swing was not limited to the service line, where he finished with a pair of aces. Grasso, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, led the winners with 12 kills and also added six digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Adrian Faitalia contributed 10 kills and led the Pirates with seven digs. He also had two block assists.
Matthew Ujkic, a 6-4 freshman middle blocker, had six kills and three block assists, while freshman outside hitter Jordan Hoppe had three kills and three aces.
Wyatt Henson, a 6-5 freshman opposite, had three kills and three block assists, while Will Donald, a 6-5 freshman middle blocker added to the balanced attack with two kills, two aces and two block assists.
Alternating setters Andrew McCall, a freshman from Arizona, and Sean Keyes, a sophomore out of Mater Dei High, each produced 14 assists to propel the winners.
Max Gamboa, a sophomore libero out of Newport Harbor High, had five digs for OCC, which opened the season with a five-set win over Long Beach, before sweeping Golden West and Santa Barbara.
“I think we do have all the pieces,” Turner said. “At least it looks like it. We have a mix of experience and younger guys and we are pretty physical. I think if we can serve and pass a little better than we did tonight, we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
OCC received kills from five different attackers in each set and seemed to have all the answers when it needed them most against an El Camino unit that featured a quartet of potent hitters.
OCC plays host to Santa Monica on Feb. 20 as it prepares for its Pacific Coast Conference opener at home against Irvine Valley on March 2.
