The Vikings men’s Volleyball team hosted Orange Coast College on Wednesday Feb 13, in which they were defeated 3-1, (25-15, 25-21, 25-20,25-22).
Trying to avenge their lost to the Pirates early in the season the Vikings came out with high energy in the first set against a top ranked OCC team, taking an early 12-5 lead against the Pirates, freshman Uriel Batista lead the charge in the first set with 5 kills. The Vikings took control for much of the first set wining the set 25-15.
The second was more competitive one with each team taking turns taking the lead, with a 13-13 tie midway through the set.
The Pirates would eventually regain some momentum and finish off the set against the Vikings 25-12.
Vikings were not able to play with the same intensity as they did in the first set which gave them the huge lead, coach Jonathan Charette discussed how his team failed to execute off their early lead.
“I think we got a bit comfortable, we came out the gate fired up made some big plays everyone was playing very hard, and I just think we got complacent and against a good team like Orange Coast you have to keep your foot on the gas.” Charette said.
The third and fourth sets Vikings trailed big, being down 13-5 in the fourth set but were able to eventually tie the game at 20-20.
The Vikings tried to feed off their momentum but the Pirates were able to close out the final set 25-22. Freshman Kyle Anema discussed what things the team could do differently for the next game.
“We just have to regroup and get better we lost to a good team in Orange Coast but we showed that we can be a real good team when we play together, but we just have to move on to the next game.” Anema said.
We the lost against OCC the Vikings record goes to 4-2.
The Vikings have some time off before playing again with their next game being against Pierce College on Feb. 27 and their next home game coming in March 6 against Antelope Valley.