Impeccable Timing Results in State Title for Pierce : College volleyball: Brahmas upset Long Beach in final after losing twice to Vikings during regular season.

Looking past an opponent in anticipation of a rematch with a heated rival is a cardinal sin in any sport, especially during the playoffs.

The Pierce College men’s volleyball team committed that sin without remorse last week, yet still brought home the Brahmas’ third state volleyball title since 1986.

Pierce (20-2) defeated No. 1-ranked Long Beach City College, 15-8, 12-15, 15-4, 12-15, 15-11, to win the state title at Palomar College on Saturday night, sweet revenge after having been swept twice by the Vikings earlier in the season.

The Brahmas defeated defending state champion and No. 2-seeded Orange Coast, 16-14, 15-8, 15-6, in the semifinals Friday to advance to the title match. However, even before that victory, Pierce setter Matt Knepper and Coach Ken Stanley had discussed playing Long Beach with the state title on the line.

“I felt like we had a good chance to beat them after we won regionals,” Knepper said. “And I remember asking (Stanley), ‘Do you think we deserve to win the state title, even though they beat us twice earlier in the season?’

“He said, ‘If we beat them in the final, then we deserve the state title. Everything we’ve done this season has been in anticipation of that match.’ ”

Pierce swept Grossmont and Irvine Valley in the Southern California regional last week at Pierce to advance to the final four of the state tournament. After sweeping aside Orange Coast in the semifinals, the Brahmas fell behind Long Beach, 6-0, in the first game of the title match but rebounded to win, 15-8.

“That was the turning point of the match,” middle blocker Lee Bradford said. “They looked like they were going to blow us out, but we outscored them, 15-2, the rest of the way.”

Suddenly, previously undefeated Long Beach (21-1) succumbed to the pressure that accompanies the favorite, according to Pierce setter David Smith.

“I think (losing the first game) shook them up a little bit,” Smith said. “Everyone thought they would win, and we felt like they would win if they played up to their capabilities. But we also felt like we had nothing to lose, that we could beat them if they didn’t play a great match.”

Long Beach didn’t, and Pierce gave Stanley his third state title since he became coach in 1976. The Brahmas also won the title in 1986 and 1988.

“We played solid throughout the match,” Bradford said. “Long Beach was up and down. The games we won, we handled them pretty easily. The games they won, they barely squeaked by.”

The makeup of this year’s Pierce team differed from the previous two title squads. All six starters hail from outside the west end of the San Fernando Valley.

Knepper and outside hitters Richard Lake and Robert Beard went to high school in Clovis, a suburb of Fresno, and Bradford is from Bakersfield.

Middle blocker Paul Severns is a Glendale High product, and Smith hails from Lakeview, Colo., a suburb of Denver. “A lot of them came here through word of mouth,” Stanley said. “We got lucky that way.”

Knepper, who is “98% sure” he will continue his collegiate career at UC Santa Barbara, was the key to getting other players from the Fresno area to attend Pierce. Ball State (Ind.) offered Knepper a scholarship out of high school, but he had his heart set on playing for NCAA powerhouse Pepperdine.

Because of Knepper’s academic shortcomings, Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy encouraged him to check out Pierce.

“(Dunphy) was really high on (Stanley),” Knepper said. “He said among all the coaches in the world, he ranks among the top 10. He’s taught me an awful lot, not only about volleyball but about life.”

Former Cal State Bakersfield Coach Dave Rubio, now at Arizona, encouraged Bradford to attend Pierce. Bradford’s grades prevented him from attending a four-year school.

Stanley met Smith in 1990 when Stanley was coaching the elite high school camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. Smith, a beach volleyball enthusiast, enrolled at Pierce in the fall of that year.

Although the Brahmas lose three starters, they seem well-stocked for next year. Middle blocker Peter Blied (Clovis West High) and outside hitter Danny Hess (Fresno Bullard) redshirted this season.

For the moment, however, Stanley and his players are relishing the state title.

“This is very satisfying because I thought we would be in the middle of the pack,” Stanley said. “But the kids hung in there.”