Frustration is setting in and sophomore Pedro Campos can’t believe some of these calls going against him and the Warriors. All of a sudden they’ve just thrown a six-point lead late in the third set.
The Irvine Valley College men’s volleyball team led 21-20 and was locked in to take the set and the momentum into a potential five-set thriller.
But sophomore outside hitter Cesar Medina went up and jammed a kill down the line to fire up the El Camino men’s volleyball team.
The Warriors would go on a 5-0 run to end the third set and win the match.
“We had some consistency issues earlier,” Medina said. “But we played good (tonight), but thank God we could pull it out.”
The No. 7 El Camino men’s volleyball team went on the road Friday night against the No. 2 Irvine Valley College Lasers and closed out a thorough win in four sets (25-22, 25-27, 25-21, 25-17).
“I’m excited for the win,” sophomore outside hitter and co-captain Chris Phanngam said. “We really wanted to come out and show everyone what we’re made of, (and) we did it.”
The Warriors claimed second in the Western State South Conference and finished as the No. 4 team in the regular season.
But when all was said and done, EC fell to No. 7 in the state playoff bracket.
“We came out as the seventh seed,” freshman middle blocker Victor Villareal said. “They were the No. 2, but we knew we had to step it up. Once we saw our seedings, we had to show them what’s up.”
Medina led all players with his 24 kills, while Villareal (13), Phanngam (11) and PJ Tulikihihifo (11) all recorded in the double-digits.
IVCs Ruben Lopez led his team with 18 kills, while Patrick Furlong added 15 and Matt August notched 10 of his own.
Long Beach City College dominated the pace in a sweep over the No. 6 Fullerton College Hornets.
The defending state champion Vikings will look to take down EC and repeat the success from the 2016 season to advance to the state finals.
The Vikings won the conference and will “host” the Warriors at L.A. Pierce College on Thursday, April 27 at 5 p.m.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Phanngam said. “So if they win, we’re coming for them.”
