Community college men’s volleyball: Pirates seeking revenge

Steve Virgen

LONG BEACH - Throughout the Orange Coast College men’s volleyball

team’s season there has been just one team that has beaten the Pirates.

The same team, L.A. Pierce, knocked them out of the state playoffs last

year en route to its championship. In order for OCC to get any chance of

revenge, the Pirates (20-1) will have to get past El Camino (12-5) today

at 6 p.m. at Long Beach City College in the semifinals of the California

Community College Men’s Volleyball Championship.

South Coast Conference champion Pierce (17-0), which defeated OCC in

five games March 23, faces Santa Barbara City (11-7) at 8 p.m., at the

same venue.

“(Pierce has) certainly become one of our rivals,” Coast Coach Chuck

Cutenese said. “(Last year’s playoff loss) is in the back of their minds,

but I haven’t heard them make mention of it.”

So first things first and that means the Pirates’ matchup with South

Coast Conference runner-up El Camino, which defeated Golden West Tuesday.

OCC won the Orange Empire Conference with three matches left in the

season, earning the semifinal berth. The Pirates have won four conference

titles in the past eight years and they last claimed the state title in

1994 with a win over Pierce.

After OCC suffered its first loss this season, the Bucs began their

current six-match winning streak with a home victory over the Warriors on

March 28, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21.

Coast also defeated El Camino when the Bucs won the Long Beach City

Tournament on Feb. 3. In a best of three games match, OCC triumphed

20-25, 25-14, 15-7.

With the two matches, Cutenese believes the Warriors will definitely

be prepared because it has more knowledge about the Bucs.

“El Camino’s strength is their outside,” said Cutenese, who is in his

ninth season with a 158-36 record and one state title. “They’re a really

emotional team as well. We have to make sure we dictate the tempo. We’re

stronger one through six on the floor than they are and they’re a good

ball control team, that’s why they beat Golden West.”

Cutenese also noted sophomore outside hitter B.J. Lightvoet, who leads

the team in kills, has experienced pain in his right hitting hand during

the past three matches. Lightvoet, a Costa Mesa High product, played

spot-duty in the season-ending win over Grossmont Friday and he has

rested since.

Doctors said there was a pinched nerve in his right shoulder that

caused the pain in his hand, Cutenese said. But, Lightvoet has received

massage therapy and with the rest he should be ready for El Camino.

OCC is also led by sophomore setter Nick Ptaschinski, who has 826

assists this season, an average of 39.3 per match. He is No. 2 in career

assists at Coast with 1,769.

OCC libero Ed Chun, a 5-foot-4 sophomore from Hawaii, battled back

from an ankle injury in June and has been “the spark plug of the team,”

Cutenese said. Chun has 195 digs (9.3 per match) this season, No. 4 in

the school’s single-season record.

“I haven’t had a sophomore group that has been so into volleyball,”

Cutenese said. “If they’re not practicing, they’re watching tape. They

spend so much time preparing for volleyball and that’s special. They

can’t get enough volleyball.”

El Camino, coached by Dick Blount who is in his third year, features

outside hitters Tamer George (6-foot-3), Nick Kimose (6-4), Ben Napoleon

(6-3) and middle blocker Tim Zimmerman (6-6).