Orange Coast College

Men's Volleyball: Pirates end regular season with win over Palomar

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team head into next week's playoffs on the right track, courtesy of a 30-20, 21-30, 30-21, 30-25 win over visiting Palomar on Wednesday in the Pirates' Pacific Coast Conference finale.

Jake Melone (pictured right) led the Pirates (12-8, 8-4 in PCC) with 19 kills, while Alex Reis and Andrew Pavlovich each added 15 kills. Derek Martinez anchored the defense with five digs, while teammates Paul Leon and Doug Astor combined for 43 assists.

For the Comets (5-14, 5-7), Eric Broon led the offense with 12 kills, while Marc Berry added 11. Brian McFarland dished out 31 assists.

With a third-place slot in the PCC, the Pirates will travel to Moorpark College to take on the Raiders in the first round of the Regional Playoffs on Tuesday. No time has been announced. Check the school's Web site at www.orangecoastcollege.edu on Sunday for the latest information on the matchup.

In Wednesday's matchup, OCC pulled ahead and stayed ahead of the Comets in Game 1 to take the early advantage, but in Game 2, Palomar turned a 21-20 deficit around with a 10-0 run to even things up.

Game 3 was a carbon copy of Game 1 for the Pirates as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

OCC trailed 18-14 in Game 4 before turning things around with a 12-4 run, led by some key kills by Pavlovich and Reis, as well as a big-time dig from Martinez. The Comets would get as close as 23-22 before Coast ended the match with a 7-3 run.