Piercing Volleys Take Brahmas to Title Game : Men’s volleyball: Higa and Ring power three-game sweep of Grossmont in semifinals of state tournament.

Everyone on the floor knows that Gabe Higa and Jason Ring are the go-to men for the Pierce College men’s volleyball team.

But nobody has figured out how to stop them this season and Friday night in the semifinals of the state championships at Santa Barbara City College, Grossmont became the latest team to miserably fail in the attempt.

Higa had a match-high 20 kills and Ring added 12 to lead the Brahmas to a 15-4, 15-8, 15-7 victory over Grossmont and a berth in the title match tonight at 7:30 against Orange Coast, which swept American River in the other semifinal.

It will be the second appearance in the final for Pierce in three seasons and the second in the past four years for Orange Coast. The Brahmas (20-0) won the tournament in 1992 and Orange Coast took the trophy the year before.

Higa, a left-handed freshman opposite hitter from Quartz Hill High, started slowly and had only three kills in the first game, as Ring (six kills) and Brad Schultz (five kills) sparked the attack.

“I was kind of tight in the first game,” Higa said.

By the time he got loose in the second game, Grossmont already was in serious trouble and headed for more. He slammed home 12 kills in the game as the Brahmas pulled away after committing a few hitting and passing errors that kept Grossmont in the game for a while.

“Gabe was unstoppable and (setter) Dan Nash did a good job of moving the ball around,” Pierce Coach Ken Stanley said.

The Pierce hitters repeatedly found holes in the Grossmont defense and kept the pressure up without much of a letdown throughout the match.

“That team, as big and as tough as they are, we were just outmanned,” Grossmont Coach Fred Featherstone said. “We didn’t play any defense behind the block and that killed us.”

Grossmont (15-5) led, 2-0, in the first game before Pierce went on a 13-0 run behind Ring, a freshman outside hitter, and Schultz, a sophomore outside hitter. In addition to his five kills in the game, Schultz had two service aces and one block for a point.

“I normally would take (Schultz) out on serve situations, but he did such a good job, I left him in there,” Stanley said.

Grossmont rallied in the second game from a 4-1 deficit to tie, 4-4, but continued to make numerous passing and hitting mistakes.

The teams traded points early in the third game but Pierce turned it up and went ahead, 10-3, on a double block by Higa and Schultz. The Brahmas wrapped it up on a hitting error by Grossmont.