Men’s Volleyball: Vikings down Orange Coast in final to win LBCC Invitational tournament

The Long Beach City College men's volleyball team kicked off the 2011 season in impressive fashion by compiling a 5-0 record on its way to a tournament championship at the 12-team LBCC Invitational on Saturday.

Pool play matches were played best two-of-three sets, while championship and consolation round matches were played one set to 25 points. Today's tournament matches do not count towards overall season records.

Long Beach was tested early by having to go three sets against Golden West College in its opening match. LBCC took set one at 25-18, before Golden West rallied to steal set two 25-22. LBCC closed out the win with a 15-11 triumph in set three.

LBCC cruised to the championship bracket by picking up 2-0 wins over San Diego City College (25-14, 25-23) and L.A. Pierce College (25-16, 25-19).

After a first-round bye, Long Beach defeated the LBCC Alumni squad 25-19 in the semifinals to set up a rematch of the 2010 state championship semifinals against Orange Coast College. OCC upset the Vikings the last time the two squads met, but Long Beach would get a small measure of revenge on their home court.

The Pirates opened today's final with a 2-0 lead. But the Vikings answered with an 8-2 run behind some excellent serving from sophomore Chris Austin and never looked back on their way to a 25-22 victory.

Head coach Randy Totorp was pleased by the total team effort throughout the day.

"Everybody played well today, Totorp said. "We got a lot of good veteran play on the floor. If everyone plays like this all season, it will be a fun year."

Standouts on the day included freshman Aniefre Etim-Thomas, sophomore Parker Del Re, freshman Max Wechsung and Austin.

"Aniefre really stood out today for us," Totorp said. "Offensively and blocking, he was solid."

Long Beach returns to the court on Friday (Feb. 4) when it opens up match play with a 6 p.m. non-conference contest at home against Irvine Valley.