The Vikings fell to Orange Coast College in the CCCAA men’s volleyball championship three sets to two on Saturday.
After a strong season of 18 consecutive wins, the Vikings were narrowly defeated by the Pirates with the game going the full five sets. LBCC never lost a set by more than five points.
During the first set, the Vikings kept the score close by going heavy on the attacks as well as having several serving runs.
However, they were unable to defeat the Pirates and the first set ended with a score of 23-25 and a kill from OCC’s outside hitter, Hide Nakamura.
“It was definitely first ball contact that we struggled a lot with, I think communication wise could be better but it was mainly just first ball contact off the serve putting us out of play and out of rhythm,” said sophomore middle blocker Cian Slade.
This set snapped the LBCC set win streak of 48 straight sets.
The Vikings were able to flip the script in the second set. With several simple errors coming from the Pirates and consecutive kills, coming from Vikings outside hitter Matthew Pennala and opposite/outside hitter Georgi Binev, the team was able to defeat the Pirates with a score of 25-17.
The third set fared well for the Vikings as OCC once again made attacking errors and setter Sean Nguyen set up Slade, Pennala and Binev for some monster kills.
The score wavered back and forth as the Vikings also had some passing errors as well as attacking errors that allowed OCC to keep the score close.
With a final score of 25-21, the Vikings defeated the Pirates in the third set, putting them up two sets to one.
VIkings’ freshman outside hitter Cole Oliver lays out for the ball against Orange Coast College in the CCCAA State Championship on Saturday at El Camino College. (Sam Huff) 
Vikings’ freshman middle blocker Cian Slade striking the ball against Orange Coast in the first set. The Vikings were defeated by Orange Coast College in the CCCAA State Championship game on Saturday at El Camino College. (Sam Huff) 
Freshman outside hitter Matthew Pennala goes up for a kill against the Orange Coast College blockers. The Vikings were defeated 3-2 by OCC on Saturday at El Camino College. (Sam Huff) 
Georgi Binev, Cian Slade and Cole Oliver (left to right) meet the OCC hitter at the net. The Vikings were defeated 3-2 by OCC on Saturday. (Sam Huff)
The fourth set took a different turn with the Pirates going heavy on their attacks, forcing LBCC to make some passing mistakes as well as attacking errors.
The Vikings lost the fourth set 20-25, evening the score at two all.
The fifth set stayed close as both teams fought hard to secure that championship title.
Halfway through the set, setter Sean Nguyen got a calf cramp and had to come out, forcing the Vikings to use different players as the setter.
“Our team captain Sean Nguyen had to get pulled out because of a calf cramp, we had no timeouts left, so we were just kind of scrambling and rolling with the punches,” said head coach Jonathan Charette.
The Vikings were unable to come back in the fifth set and lost 12-15, losing the CCCAA championship match to OCC three games to two.
“It was definitely first ball contact that we struggled a lot with, I think communication wise could be better but it was mainly just first ball contact off the serve putting us out of play and out of rhythm,” said Slade.
“In that third set I couldn’t pass, we couldn’t stay in system as much and we just got outplayed, and then we couldn’t come back in the fifth,” said Pennala, “we just lost focus.”
The Vikings will be losing a few key players such as Sean Nguyen and Julian Zavala due to them being sophomores, but the coaches are dedicated to helping guide those players in their journeys to the next level.
“Now our shift will be that this moment does not define us, we still have a lot of work to do in the classroom now so we’re going to shift to be champions there,” said coach Charette.
Many of the Vikings starters are freshman, such as Matthew Pennala, Georgi Binev, Cian Slade, Lucca Mamone and Cole Oliver, and have the option to return next year to play and try again on the road to 11.