Irvine Valley and Orange Coast lead the charge in men's volleyball

The start of the Orange Empire Conference season in men's volleyball begins Wednesday night with a heavy-hitting matchup.

Irvine Valley, ranked tied for No. 1 in the state, takes on No. 3 and defending California Community College Athletic Association state champion Orange Coast at IVC at 6 p.m.

Santiago Canyon plays in another conference contest at 6 p.m. and Golden West with a bye on Wednesday from OEC action hosts Long Beach City.

Three teams from the conference are ranked in the California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association Top 10 State Poll. They are No. 1 IVC, No. 2 Orange Coast and No. 8 Santiago Canyon.

Irvine Valley, led by first-year head coach Rory Jones, enters conference play with a record of 9-1 overall.

The Lasers are paced by sophomore opposite Demetre Gossett, sophomore libero Adam Schulte, freshman outside hitters Zach McEntire and Damon Kooiman, sophomore middle blocker Julio Gutierrez and freshman setter Kaina Alvarez.

So far this season, Gossett is averaging 3.89 kills per set and hitting .360 to lead the way for the Lasers. Kooiman averages 2.22 kills and McEntire averages 1.92 kills per set. Gutierrez is averaging 1.43 kills and hitting a team-best .468. Alvarez is averaging 7.51 assists and Schulte averages 3.70 digs per set.

Gossett ranks fifth in the state in kills per set, is second in total kills (140) and second in hitting percentage heading into conference. Schulte is pacing the state in digs per set and total digs (137).

Orange Coast has a record of 8-2 overall. Its only two losses have come to tied for No. 1 in the state Long Beach – both in four sets.

The Pirates have won five matches in a row, including beating No. 4 San Diego Mesa in five sets on the road Feb. 24.

On the year, sophomore outside hitter Sebastian Lara is averaging 3.24 kills per set. He has five matches with at least double-digit kills, including a season-high 22 in the victory over Mesa. Freshman Niall Finnegan is averaging 1.80 kills per set. Freshman outside hitter/libero Hide Nakamura averages 3.53 digs per set and freshman setter Landon Seymour averages 8.21 assists per set.

Seymour ranks third in the state in assists per set and freshman middle blocker Peter Kelso is third in the state in blocks per set (1.00) for the Pirates.

Santiago Canyon heads into conference with a record of 7-4 overall. The Hawks have played a tough schedule so far.

Two of their losses were to fourth-ranked San Diego Mesa in five sets, including last Wednesday when the Olympians won, 15-10, in the fifth.

Santiago Canyon has received big seasons so far from sophomore outside hitter Cameron Grammatica, sophomore middle blocker Adam Masura and freshman setter Caleb Merold.

Grammatica leads the state in kills per set at 4.42 and total kills (177). He has racked up at least 20 kills in four matches, including a season-high 27 in a five-set win at Grossmont on Feb. 4. Grammatica is also fifth in the state in hitting percentage at .346. Masura is averaging 2.11 kills per set and hitting .389. His hitting percentage leads the state.

And Merold is averaging 4.36 assists per set and leads the state in blocks per set at 1.31. Merold shares the setting duties with sophomore Ryan Kain.

Fullerton has a record of 4-7 overall. The Hornets are coming off a four-set victory over Grossmont last week.

Sophomore outside hitter Connor Stoebe had 10 kills and sophomore setter Junior Paniagua and freshman setter Nathan Cheav each recorded 13 assists in the win.

On the season, freshman outside hitter Billy Veng is averaging 2.46 kills per set and hitting .343 and Andrew Ramos is averaging 1.65 kills. And Cheav averages 9.00 assists per set for Fullerton.

Golden West comes into OEC play with a 2-10 mark. The Rustlers have battled ranked teams Antelope Valley and Santa Monica tough before losing and have swept Grossmont twice, including Mar. 1 at home.

Freshman middle blocker Ezra Vlad had seven kills, hit .500 and added six digs in the victory. Freshman outside hitter Michael Moran contributed six kills and five digs and freshman setter Jaden Kodongan ran the offense with 27 assists.

Freshman outside hitter Nicholas Maya is averaging 2.00 kills per set with freshman outside hitter Louis Zaffino at 1.88 kills. Kodongan averages 6.61 assists per set and freshman libero Aniken Miranda is averaging 2.61 digs per set.