Coasters: State runner-up OCC has daunting final task

Steve Virgen

Even though the season is over for the Orange Coast College men’s

volleyball team, the Pirates are left with yet another challenge. They

have to decide who is the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Sure the Bucs lost in the state final Saturday, but this is, as Coach

Chuck Cutenese would say, one of the most talented teams he’s had in his

nine years.

Cutenese, like always, will ask his players to vote on the MVP. And it

will be plenty hard to find just one person who fits that label. Is there

a quad-MVP?

Even I’m undecided when it comes to naming the team’s MVP. Not that my

vote counts anyway, but in my book the Pirates’ MVP is ... wow, this is

very difficult.

At the California Community College Championships, sophomore libero Ed

Chun battled through pain in his right knee after he collided with

another player during Game 3 of the state final match against L.A.

Pierce. He has been the spark plug of the team and you can’t say enough

about the electricity he brings to the Pirates. He amassed a school

single-season record 235 digs. When he earns his Associate of Arts degree

after the fall semester, he said the University of Hawaii could give him

a partial scholarship. If that happens, he’ll return to his native state.

But then there’s B.J. Lightvoet, the sophomore outside hitter who went

the distance against Pierce, despite pain in his right (hitting) hand.

He’s an MVP, too. He has been experiencing a pinched nerve in his right

shoulder which has been cutting off circulation to his wrist and hand.

Lightvoet, the Coast Mesa High product who led the team in kills this

season, practiced only one day the week the Bucs prepared for the state

playoffs. He earned a spot on the state all-tournament team after

finishing with a team-high 12 kills assists in the three-game win over El

Camino in the semifinals. And in the finals, he led the team again with

18 kills.

His confident, upbeat personality was a big reason the Pirates won the

Orange Empire Conference and nearly brought home an unprecedented sixth

state title.

So he should be the MVP, right?

But, what about setter Nick Ptaschinski, who overwhelmingly fulfilled

the leadership role? He too, received all-tournament honors after he

finished with 55 assists against Pierce and 35 against El Camino.

There’s also Soeren Schneider, a freshman from Germany. The 6-foot-6,

240-pound outside hitter assuredly imposed intimidation on opponents. He

finished second on the team in kills.

Don’t forget Jeff Taylor, the Daily Pilot of Athlete of the Month.

I give up.

There are many moments to remember for the Pirates men’s volleyball

team this season, but the last memory it is left with is the Brahmas

hoisting the championship trophy. When tournament officials named

Pierce’s Dhiraj Coats MVP, the Pirates displayed dejection. Chun wore a

towel over his head and only Cutenese and Taylor applauded, using a golf

clap to pay their respects.

For Morgan Jackson, a Corona del Mar High product, the scene just made

him want to come back with more energy next year.

“We will be here next year,” he said. “Guaranteed.”

The Pirates received a strong performance off the bench from Jackson

against Pierce. The reserve middle blocker did not play in Friday’s

semifinal or in Game 1 of the finals. But he came up with four kills and

six blocks.

The loss also made Cutenese eager for next year.

“I would love to play this team again,” he said of the Brahmas. “I’m

not afraid of this team. They’ve ended up on the winning end twice (this

season), but it’s a crapshoot when the two of us meet.”

Though the Pirates lost in a thrilling fourth game that ended the

match, Cutenese was more than satisfied with the season. He also took

pleasure when his team answered back after being down 2-0 in games.

“This loss doesn’t take away from the season we had,” he said. “Our

whole focus is to develop people individually and make them better

athletes and I think we are doing that. My goal is to make sure that my

sophomores will find a place to play and we’ve done that.”

“(The state championship) is a goal that was set at the beginning of

the year,” he continued. “We didn’t meet that goal and that’s what life

is about. You’re not going to meet every goal that you have, but you work

to achieve that goal. When you don’t achieve it, you learn something from

it. And I hope they learn something from this.”

The men’s track and field team won its second straight Orange Empire

Conference crown Saturday. The victory, combined with the new facilities

at Coast, should give the Pirates a leg up on the competition when it

comes to recruiting. But, then again, Golden West managed to recruit two

OCC students, Greg Stewart and Logan Odden, this season.

In other OCC track news: sophomore Steven Taeleman and freshman Julie

Kroening, a Costa Mesa High product, have qualified for the State

Championships May 17-19. Taeleman will compete in the decathlon and

Kroening the heptathlon

In men’s basketball news, Nick Burwell has declared himself eligible

for the NBA draft. Talk about against all odds. Who’s going to draft a

player who was on a juco team that tanked after a 5-0 start in

conference?

Good luck.

Burwell, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound guard, averaged 22.7 points a game last

season, the third-highest average in school history. He’s been told he

would get drafted and entered the draft after receiving advice from his

agent.

In closing, I will admit I was wrong in predicting the Pirates

volleyball team would win the state championship. I underestimated

Pierce. The Brahmas are the better team, but a strong case can be made

that the Pirates have better players.