Needing a win in their final Western State Conference match of the season to wrap up a spot in the postseason, the Long Beach City College men's volleyball team rolled to a 25-18, 25-14, 25-21 victory over visiting Santa Barbara City College on Friday.
Both Long Beach and Santa Barbara entered the contest with identical conference records and were tied for third place. Only the top three teams from the WSC qualify for the postseason so going into the match, both squads knew the winner would go to the playoffs.
The Vikings seem to be getting hot at the right time, as they rolled to their third straight sweep to close out the regular season. Friday's win improved LBCC to 13-5 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
Long Beach returns to the postseason for the 10th straight year. As the WSC's No. 3 seed, the Vikings travel to face Pacific Coast Athletic Conference No. 2 seed Orange Coast College on Friday (Apr. 17) in a first-round match of the 2015 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Men's Volleyball State Championships.
The winner advances to the state championship semifinals on April 23 at San Diego City College. The championship final is set for April 25 at SDCC. The Vikings look to win their ninth state championship overall after capturing titles in 1976, 1980, 1982, 1985, 2004, 2006, 2009, and most recently in 2012. Fourth-year head coach Jonathan Charette is going for his second state championship.
