April 28, 2007
Men’s Volleyball:
Long Beach falls in five to Irvine Valley in state championship final
Long Beach City College's quest to repeat as state champions came up just short. Irvine Valley College prevailed 3-2 over Long Beach to capture the 2007 California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Men’s Volleyball Championship at Santa Monica College.
IVC won the match by scores of 30-25, 27-30, 32-30, 16-30, and 15-13 to upset defending state champion Long Beach and earn its second state title since 1993.
“I think a lot of people figured we didn’t have a chance against Long Beach,” said Irvine Valley head coach Tom Pestolesi. “We struggled most of the match, but we did better at the end of the fourth, so we knew we would be ok in the fifth. Obviously Long Beach is a great team, but we won six out of seven five-game matches, so we were confident.”
Irvine Valley took advantage of numerous LBCC hitting errors and used a strong blocking attack to take game 1. LBCC jumped out to an early 8-3 lead before IVC rallied to tie it up 12-12. Irvine Valley led 26-21 before Long Beach came within two points at 27-25 but would get no closer.
LBCC evened the match with its 30-27 win in game 2. Long Beach never trailed, but Irvine Valley got as close as 21-19 before the Vikings got two kills and an ace from opposite Adam Church on their way to a 6-2 scoring run to take their biggest lead of 26-21.
Church led the Vikings with 8 kills in the game.
Irvine Valley came back late in the third game to steal the lead. Irvine Valley trailed deep into the game and finally tied it up at 27-27. Libero Sean Grubbs’ ace gave IVC its first lead at 31-30 and a kill by outside hitter Marcus Fernandez wrapped up the game win.
“We basically stole game 3,” Pestolesi said. “That was the match right there. Like I said yesterday, the team that wins game three usually goes on to win the match.”
“We needed to put them away in game 3,” said LBCC head coach Randy Totorp. “Our serving was off and we gave them a bunch of free points along with the win.”
Long Beach forced a fifth game by cruising to a 30-16 win in game 4. LBCC surged to a 16-6 lead and never faltered. Outside hitter Richard Carmerlengo led Long Beach with 7 kills in the game.
In the deciding game 5, LBCC and IVC traded points and were tied at 5-5. Long Beach took a 6-5 advantage before Irvine Valley got an ace from Grubbs and two points on LBCC errors to go ahead 8-6 as the team switched sides on the court.
“Coming out with that lead was huge,” Pestolesi said. “We forgot all about that fourth game and came out strong.”
Irvine Valley had leads of 10-7 and 14-11 before Long Beach mounted a late attempt at a comeback.
A kill by Church and an IVC hitting error got the Vikings within one point at 14-13. But a finishing strike down the middle of the court by outside hitter Peter Johnson was the championship point for Irvine Valley.
“Irvine Valley really peaked as a team,” said Totorp. “They really came together since we last played and beat them.”
Fernandez and Johnson both totaled 14 kills to lead Irvine Valley. Middle blocker Ted Slaughter added 13 kills and four blocks, and Grubbs added 10 digs. Setter Tyler Rex chipped in with five digs and four blocks.
Outside hitter Naseri Tumanuvao did his best to keep Long Beach in the match. He led all with 17 kills and 17 digs and added five blocks. Outside hitter Derrick Seay also had a good night, posting 15 kills, 10 digs and three aces and Church added 17 kills, seen blocks, and three aces.
With the win, Irvine Valley closes its season with a 17-3 overall record while Long Beach ends with a 16-3 mark.
The state title win marked the second time that Irvine Valley defeated Long Beach in the championship final. In 1993, IVC beat LBCC 3-1.
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State Championship Semifinal: Long Beach 3, Orange Coast 1
Long Beach City College will look to capture its third state title in four seasons after defeating Orange Coast College 3-1 in Friday’s second semifinal match of the 2007 California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Men’s Volleyball Championship at Santa Monica College.
Long Beach cruised to a game 1 win by a score of 30-24 before Orange Coast rallied to even up the match with its win in the second. Long Beach led early 9-7 before OCC eventually overtook the Vikings and held off a late push.
Game 3 saw the Vikings lead throughout. LBCC looked poised to wrap up the third in easy fashion, leading 27-19 before Orange Coast put together a modest rally with four straight points to get as close as 27-23. But a kill by middle blocker Brent Massetti and two Orange Coast hitting errors gave the Vikings the win.
Long Beach bust out to a 5-1 lead in game 4 and looked like it would get the match over quickly. But OCC went on to outscore LBCC 11-5 to take the lead at 12-10. Three straight points by the Vikings put them ahead for good at 13-12 before winning 30-25. LBCC gave Orange Coast 16 points in game 5 thanks to unforced errors.
The win improved Long Beach to 16-2 overall this season.
Long Beach head coach Randy Totorp was pleased with his team’s effort.
“Our veteran leadership really came out tonight and all week in practice,” he said. “Our sophomores did a really good job of getting the team ready for this weekend. Naseri (Tumanuvao) stepped it big time this week and our three middle guys (Richard Carmerlengo, Massetti, Chris Ongay) all contributed and played well.
“Orange Coast came out strong and if a couple plays go the other way in game 3, it could have been a whole different match,” Totorp added.
Tumanuvao, last year’s state championship most valuable player, led the Vikings with 15 kills and 12 digs, to go with five blocks. Outside hitter Derrick Seay added 14 kills, three aces, and 4 blocks, while opposite Adam Church chipped in with eight kills, five blocks, and one ace.
The loss closed Orange Coast’s season with a 16-4 overall record. Middle blocker Brett Lessman led OCC with 11 kills and setter Trevor Holmes added 32 assists. Outside hitter Kevin Welch had a good all-around match with nine kills, eight digs, and two aces while outside hitter Stefan Brule had nine digs. |
