Pirates stunned by Hornets in playoff opener

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College men's volleyball team picked the absolute worst time to have their only two-match losing streak for the 2026 season as the Pirates were stunned by visiting Fullerton College in five sets in the opening round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Friday inside OCC's Peterson Gym.

With the win, the eighth-seeded Hornets (15-8) advance to the State Final Four, which takes place on Thursday at Long Beach City College. Time and opponent is TBA.

For the top-seeded Pirates (23-2), it was a sudden end to an incredible season, a season that didn't have an April 17 expiration date on most people's calendar.

But the Hornets came in playing pressure-free and executed a perfect gameplan against the host Pirates, rallying from a 0-2 hole to prevail, 24-26, 20-25, 28-26, 26-24, 15-12.

Victor Loiola led the Pirates with 23 kills, 10 digs and four total blocks. Ben Bray added 14 kills, six digs and four total blocks, while middle blocker Seth Sainz came through with nine kills (.444 hitting percentage), three digs and 12 total blocks (3 solo).

Fullerton came out fired up right from the opening set, using a 5-0 run and a 5-1 run to grab a 23-21 lead. OCC evened the set at 23, but Fullerton still earned a set-point opportunity at 23-24. 

But three Hornet errors -- one service error and a pair of hitting errors -- enabled the Pirates to snag the opening set, 26-24.

Coast carried that momentum into the second set and pulled away early on the Hornets, grabbing a 16-9 lead and never looking back. Coast was flying high and just one set away from moving onto the State Final Four, an event OCC has participated in for the past 10 seasons, dating back to 2014 (excluding 2020, 2021 -- COVID).

But Fullerton never gave up and opened the third set on a 6-0 run, a lead the Hornets carried all the way to set point at 24-19.

There, the Pirates nearly pulled off the miracle comeback, ripping off six points in a row to lead 25-24 and earn a match-point opportunity. A kill and two blocks by Sainz and a pair of Bray kills helped push OCC to the brink of victory. But, three OCC miscues and a kill by Hornet standout Samuel Chavez kept Fullerton's season alive with a 28-26 win.

It looked good for the Pirates late in the fourth set when they turned a 22-20 deficit into a 23-22 advantage with kills from Bray, Applegate and a tandem block from Applegate and Adam Haidar. 

But once again, Fullerton found a way to win by taking four of the next five points to even the sets at 2 apiece and forcing a 15-point, winner-take-all fifth set.

With the Peterson Gym a full volume from a rowdy and appreciative crowd from both schools, Fullerton landed the first big punch by jumping out to a 9-3 advantage. The lead remained at a comfortable five points (13-8) before OCC pushed back one final time with four straight points to trim the deficit down to a single point at 13-12. A Loiola kill and block and a dual block from Applegate/Sainz helped bring the OCC fans to their feet.

But a clutch kill by FC middle blocker Jasper Nadelson and a Hornet block on match point proved to be enough as Fullerton earned the hard-fought victory.