Men's volleyball team topples state champion Orange Coast Pirates

EC+Outside+hitter%2C+Casey+Wood%2C+hits+a+ball+down+against+an+OC+defender.+Photo+credit%3A+John+Fordiani

EC Outside hitter, Casey Wood, hits a ball down against an OC defender. Photo credit: John Fordiani

It was game point for the Warriors in set 5, as they led 14-11. The OC Pirates called time out and forced two straight points. EC Coach Richard Blount called time out. A spike from the Warriors put the Pirates defense in disarray allowing the ball to drop and ending the game.

The Warriors’ male volleyball team start off the season 1-0 after winning a close 3-2 match against the defending state champion, the Orange Coast Pirates.

The Warriors were down 1-2 in overall sets, and needed to pull off a comeback of sorts to not lose their home opener. Freshman outside hitter, Cesar Medina, who was subbed into the starting lineup in set three, played an important role in EC’s comeback.

Medina dominated the front row with his 13 kills in three sets off the bench. Followed up by the massive work from sophomore middle blocker, Peter Nordel, who had 15 kills and 7 block assists, and the team’s overall 52 assists made the comeback become a reality.

Set two is where the Pirates gained momentum, shoving eight total blocks to win a set by the largest lead, 25-19. But it didn’t stop there, after EC took a lead in set three, there was a collapse and chaos in playing style. And the set went on to be won 34-32 in favor of OC. The Pirates had a massive 62 kills and 60 assists, but could not squeak out the win, because of errors.

Blount was asked about the massive number of errors from both sides, 59 total for EC and 65 total for OC.

“The nerves of the players. Its the first game of the season, of course they’re nervous .” When asked about the what needed improvement he added, “ball control. Let’s leave it at that.”

Sophomore outside hitter, Casey Wood, was asked about the performance of Medina, and said, “Cesar was awesome. To come off the bench and play a huge role like that is insane.”

On Medina’s performance, Blount added, “we know he can play. We know he’s a great asset in the gym. But he’s got off-court issues. Let’s just say he has unfortunate luck.”

When asked about the preparation for Orange Coast, Blount said, “we saw them on Saturday. They beat us up. But that’s great motivation for today’s game.” After the game, he was asked about OC’s performance, he added, “they blocked very well. We squeaked out a victory, we have things to work on.”

Sophomore middle blocker Peter Nordel was asked about how they prepared for the fast-paced blocking of OC and said, “we got good reps before the game. And I’m not sure about Saturday, but we were fired up. Then we got shut down.”

Medina added one last thing, “the team pumps me up. And I pump them up if we do good. It makes everything better.”