Coast bumps off Irvine Valley

Freshman outside hitter Poyer Poia collected nine of his match-best

23 kills in the deciding fourth game to lead host Orange Coast

College to a 30-24, 28-30, 32-30, 33-31 Orange Empire Conference

victory over Irvine Valley Wednesday night.

Faced the possibility of missing the playoffs if they do not run

the table the rest of the way in the OEC, the Pirates were able to

clamp down when needed.

A rash of injuries at the outside hitter position gave Doug Lewis

the chance to see regular time in the lineup and he capitalized on

the opportunity with 12 kills, that total matched by opposite Paul

Pomroy.

Defensively, Kaione Scott (15 digs) and Matt Skolnik (17 digs)

sparked the Pirates.

Poia was consistent offensively, but saved his best for the final

game. He posted three early kills as the Pirates grabbed a 5-2 lead,

then put down back-to-back swings to make it 20-18 after the Lasers

had evened the match.

The Lasers eventually had match point when Poia came through for

the final time, firing down the line to tie it up at 31-31.

Two Lasers’ hitting errors on the next two points gave OCC (12-4,

7-3) the victory.

OCC is at Golden West Friday, starting at 7.

On the high school level:

Corona del Mar’s Jones shines

* The Corona del Mar High boys volleyball team welcomed 6-foot-6

Stanford-bound senior middle blocker Eric Jones back into the lineup

Wednesday and he made an immediate impact in the Sea Kings’ 17-15,

17-15, 15-12 nonleague loss at Orange County powerhouse Huntington

Beach.

Jones blasted 25 kills and added two aces and two blocks, but the

Oilers, who lost in the final of the Orange County Championships

Monday, overcame the visitors.

Sophomore twins Kevin Welch (17 kills and 10 digs) and Tom Welch

(eight kills) were additional standouts for the Sea Kings (5-8).

Eagles sweep away Saints

* The Estancia High boys volleyball team swept past host Santa

Ana, 15-2, 15-12, 15-7, in Golden West League competition Wednesday.

Kris Hartwell (eight kills), Brad Larsen (six kills and nine digs)

and Scott Sankey (five kills) led the way for the Eagles, who

improved to 9-2, 3-0 in league.

Orange tops Mesa in five

* The Costa Mesa High boys volleyball team saw a late fifth-game

lead vanish on what Coach Dave Sorrells termed a controversial call

and fell, 7-15, 15-8, 12-15, 15-7, 15-13, to Golden West League

visitor Orange Wednesday.

“We were up, 13-12, in the rally scoring game,” Sorrells said.

“They hit a ball out, but there was a phantom touch called (awarding

the point to the Panthers). Instead of being up, 14-12, were tied at 13 and they went on to win.”

Sophomore middle blocker Garrett Walthers led the Mustangs with

nine kills and four stuff blocks, while Gabe Gonzalez added five

blocks and John Santos chipped in 25 assists.

Mesa fell to 1-6, 0-2 in league.

Sage Hill tops San Marino in 5

* Sage Hill School’s boys volleyball team improved to 6-0 with a

five-game victory that took two hours and 45 minutes to complete over

visiting San Marino Wednesday in nonleague action.

The Lightning prevailed, 10-15, 15-10, 16-14, 6-15, 15-12, with

Kevin Joyce (26 kills, five aces and three blocks) leading the way.

Macsun Frederick posted 10 kills and three aces and setter Julian

Smith-Newman collected 29 assists for the Lightning against a San

Marino team Sage Coach Merja Connolly-Freund called, “very good.”

Joyce and Jake Lazere played strong defense in the final game for

Sage, Connolly-Freund added.