Reports From LBCC
Freshman middle blocker Randy Preval totaled 12 kills and four blocks to lead the Long Beach City College men’s volleyball team to a three-game sweep over visiting El Camino College on Wednesday night at LBCC.
The win wrapped up the 2010 Western State Conference championship for the Vikings, the sixth conference title over the past seven seasons for head coach Randy Totorp.
LBCC also clinches a first-round playoff bye and secures a spot in the state championship semifinals.
“Our two goals this season have been to transfer our players to four-year schools and win a state championship,” said Totorp. “Every team that has won a state championship for us has won a state title, so winning the conference title has been a stepping stone towards that goal. We have done everything we’ve planned on doing so far. We can now focus on working on our weaknesses to get better.”
Long Beach won the match over El Camino by scores of 30-25, 30-21, and 30-27 to improve to 14-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play with just two regular season matches remaining.
After cruising to easy wins in the opening games, LBCC had to come from behind to complete the sweep.
El Camino jumped out to a 9-4 lead after five LBCC attacking errors in game three. But Long Beach rallied to tie up the game up at 12 and eventually took the lead thanks to three consecutive El Camino errors.
El Camino rallied late to get within two points at 24-22, but sophomore outside hitter Torand Cheltenham’s kill on match point gave the Vikings’ the win.
Cheltenham posted nine kills, two blocks, and two aces while freshman middle blocker Kris Johnson chipped in with eight kills and three blocks. Freshman Tyler Salcedo posted 43 assists, and freshman outside hitter Matt Black had four blocks.
For El Camino (2-12, 1-6 WSC), Spencer Fournell led the Warriors with eight kills. Jonathan Petit totaled 13 digs, and Nolan Imamura had a team-high 14 assists.
Long Beach returns to action on Friday (Apr. 2) with a 6 p.m. WSC match at Santa Barbara City College.