Rustlers Season Comes to an End in 3C2A State Semi's

COSTA MESA - The "new kids on the block" are fitting right into the pressure cooker of the 3C2A Men's Volleyball State Championship tournament as the San Diego Mesa College Olympians advanced to the title match with a four-set win over Golden West College in the first of two semifinal matchups played on Thursday inside Orange Coast College's Peterson Gymnasium.

Patrick Buckel had 16 kills and five block assists for the No. 3-seeded Olympians (21-4) in their 25-14, 24-26, 25-22, 25-18 win over the No. 2-seeded Rustlers (16-5). Ricardo Lorja added 14 kills, while Julian Montes and Trevor Clark each added eight kills. Setters Logan Shepard and Colton Pillsbury combined for 41 assists, while Rylan Koser anchored the SDM defense with nine digs.

For the Rustlers, the triumphant return to one of the elite programs in all of California Community College men's volleyball with the hiring of head coach (and former Orange Coast College state champion), Nick Amado, Curtis Harper had 15 kills, while Ezra Vlad knocked down 11. Jaden Kodongan and Jay Pearson combined for 37 assists, while the GWC defense was led by Hunter Kraeszig with eight digs.

The Pacific Coast Conference champion Olympians took advantage of their size advantage early and often against the Rustlers and in the opening set. Mesa jumped out to an 18-8 lead with Harper leading the way with Buckel and T.J. Letuligasenoa pacing the offense early in the match.

GWC couldn't muster a comeback in the opener and the Olympians continued to apply pressure up the middle on defense and on the outside on offense. Mesa grabbed the set following a service error by the Rustlers for a 25-14 win.

Golden West – runners-up in the always-tough Orange Empire Conference – brushed off the tough loss in the opener and quickly grabbed an early lead in the second set.

But the Olympians quickly got back to work and turned an early 10-6 deficit into a 20-16 lead with a 14-6 run, forcing GWC into a tough spot … just five points away from falling into a 2-0 hole in the match.

But the Rustlers went to work and ripped off three straight points with kills from Vlad and Aaron Green and an ace from Joshua Hillard to force Mesa into a timeout.

Trailing 22-21, GWC picked up a pair of crucial points with an error and a kill by Reggie Ah-hong to grab a 23-22 advantage. Mesa responded with a pair of points to make it 24-23, Olympians, but with set-point on the line, a GWC point, and back-to-back kills by Ah-hong gave the Rustlers a 26-24 win and new life heading into the crucial third set.

The third set saw both teams use big runs to grab momentum, only to see the other team snatch it back with runs of their own.  Golden West carried a 22-21 lead before Mesa stormed back with back-to-back kills from Lorja and a service ace from Kraeszig to give the Olympians the 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

With all of the momentum on the side of the Olympians, the fourth set saw Mesa jump ahead early and never look back. GWC hung around and trailed 18-14, only to see SDM rip off four straight points to make it 22-14 and from there, Mesa hit the finish line first with a kill by Letuligasenoa to wrap things up.

With the win, the Olympians will take on the host Pirates, who knocked off Long Beach City College in the second semifinal match of the night, sweeping the Vikings, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22.

(Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA)