Orange Coast College

Men's Volleyball: Pirates stun Moorpark in five; advance to State Semifinals

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

MOORPARK -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team picked a great time for its most consistent contest, shocking host Moorpark in five games on Tuesday in the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

Led by Jon Bunge's 22 kills and Jake Melone's 21 kills and four digs, the Pirates held on for a 22-30, 30-18, 27-30, 30-28, 15-12 win over the Raiders.

"It was by far, our best effort as a group of the season," OCC head coach Travis Turner said. "Most of the year, we'd win a few points, lose a few points and get totally flustered. (On Tuesday), we'd lose a few points, but we did a much better job of shrugging it off and playing through the adversity."

Despite a three-game sweep at the hands of the Raiders (16-3) on Feb. 12, Turner knew that Coast had the right type of team that could pull off the upset.

"I knew our players matched up well against them and if we limited our mistakes, we could beat them," Turner said.

After sitting out the first game, Bunge made his presence felt the rest of the night, leading the Pirates' attack. On just 38 attempts, he notched 22 kills with just two hitting errors. "Jon was awesome and we needed every one of them," Turner said.

With both teams trading points and games, the turning point came late in Game 4. With the game tied at 28, a key block by setter Doug Astor (43 assists) enabled the Pirates to steal the game and even the match. From there, Bunge and Melone's offense, combined with 10 digs from Derek Martinez helped pave the way for Coast.

With the win, OCC (13-8) will advance to the State Championship Semifinals for the third consecutive season, where Pacific Coast Conference rival Golden West (14-5) awaits. That match will take place on Thursday at Irvine Valley College, beginning at 8 p.m. OCC lost both contests with GWC this year, in four games at OCC on March 11 and in three games at Golden West on April 3.

The winner between the Pirates and Rustlers will advance to the State Championships, where they will play the winner of the Long Beach City/Santa Monica matchup on Saturday at 7 p.m. at IVC.