No. 2 Orange Coast sweeps No. 9 Vaqueros

Jordan Hoppe and Justin Kam combined for 25 kills on Wednesday night as No. 2 Orange Coast knocked off SBCC 25-22, 25-12, 25-20 in a nonconference men's volleyball match at the Sports Pavilion.

Hoppe had 13 kills and Kam added 12 for the Pirates (3-1), who've been to the State Final Four in eight of the last nine years.

The ninth-ranked Vaqueros (2-2) only hit .104 and commited nine service errors with one ace. Orange Coast had seven aces and four errors.

Sean Reynaert led Santa Barbara with 11 kills and two blocks. Jackson McDonough added five kills. Jonathan Baldwin had 22 assists and nine digs.

The first set was tight throughout. The Pirates went ahead 15-11, then the Vaqueros tied it at 15 on three straight hitting errors by the visitors. OCC scored five of the next seven points and took a 20-17 lead on a backrow kill by Kam. Kam finished off the 25-22 win with a kill off a backrow defender.

The Pirates jumped ahead 12-4 and 21-9 in the second set. The third was more of the same with OCC building leads of 9-3 and 15-10. The Vaqueros got within three (15-12) on a Reynaert kill through the block but couldn't get any closer.

The match ended when a Vaquero served into the net.

"We battled in the first set," said coach Jon Newton. "In a three-point set, we gave them five missed serves and got aced two times in a row. A few points here and there can really change things.

"We got wide-eyed and a little quiet in the second set. They're a good team and a good program that took advantage of that. They typically have really good athletes and they're fundamentally strong."

Wednesday marked the start of five Vaquero matches vs. teams ranked in the top eight in the state. They'll travel to No. 3 Long Beach on Friday at 6 p.m.