Men’s Volleyball: Vikings to open season with 12-team LBCC Invitational tournament

The 2011 Long Beach City College men's volleyball season will officially get underway on Saturday (Jan. 29) when the Vikings will host the 12-team LBCC Invitational. Matches are scheduled for both the Hall of Champions Gym as well as the Small Gym (home of LBCC volleyball) and start at 9 a.m. with the championship match of the tourney scheduled for 5 p.m.

Some of the state's top teams will be competing at the tournament. Pool 1 includes Long Beach, L.A. Pierce, Golden West, and San Diego City colleges. In pool 2 are Orange Coast, El Camino, Santa Barbara, and a LBCC alumni team. And in pool 3 are Irvine Valley, 2010 state champion Moorpark, Santa Monica, and Hope International University.

The top two teams in each pool advance to the championship round, with the bottom two heading to the consolation bracket. Matches will be played best two sets out of three, with set three capped at 17 points. The tournament matches will not count towards regular-season records.

Long Beach opens play at 9 a.m. against Golden West followed by an 11 a.m. match vs. San Diego City. The Vikings close pool play action at 2 p.m. against L.A. Pierce, with all matches played in the Small Gym.

Championship-bracket matches will be played in the Small Gym, beginning at 3:30 p.m. while consolation matches will be played in the Hall of Champions Gym.

Irvine Valley defeated Long Beach 30-27 in the championship final to win the 2010 tournament.

Randy Totorp returns for his eighth season as head coach of the Vikings in 2011. Last year, Totorp led the Vikings to a 16-2 overall record, a Western State Conference championship with an undefeated 10-0 mark, and a spot in the state championship semifinals.