OCC men’s volleyball to play in semifinals

Orange Coast College earned a bye into the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Assn. men’s volleyball state championship tournament at Santiago Canyon Community College in Orange.

The tournament begins with quarterfinals on Friday, with the winner of the Irvine Valley-Long Beach matchup advancing to meet the Pirates (18-1) in the semifinals on April 23 at 8 p.m.

The Pirates, who shared the Pacific Coast Conference crown with Grossmont, but earned a top seed by virtue of winning more games against the Griffins, are bidding for the program’s third state title, the first since 1994.

IVC is 12-7 and Long Beach is 15-4.

OCC lost to Long Beach in last season’s quarterfinals.

El Camino (15-4), champion of the Western State Conference, is the other top seed and will received a bye into the other semifinal.

The final is April 25 at Santiago Canyon.

Rocky Ciarelli, a first-year assistant coach at OCC, will be inducted into the California Community College Men’s Volleyball Coaches Assn. Hall of Fame. Ciarelli starred at Long Beach.

— From staff reports