SBCC was seeded No. 8 for the Southern Cal Regional men's volleyball playoffs and will open at No. 1 Orange Coast on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Vaqueros (11-7) finished third in the Western State Conference with a 7-5 record. OCC is unbeaten (21-0) and captured the Orange Empire title at 8-0. The Pirates won the 2017 state title and finished second last year.
Orange Coast was seeded first in the eight-team regional, followed by El Camino, Long Beach Irvine Valley and Moorpark. The Vaqueros were originally seeded seventh but had to swap spots with No. 8 Grossmont to avoid a conference matchup between SBCC and No. 2 El Camino.
OCC is 63-8 in sets this year with 15 3-0 sweeps. They had two 3-2 victories – Feb. 8 vs. El Camino and March 16 at Santa Barbara. The Pirates won the first two sets against the Vaqueros 25-23, 25-19, then SBCC won sets 3 and 4, 30-28 and 25-21. Orange Coast took the fifth set, 15-9.
SBCC freshman outside hitter Calvin Sanborn leads the state in kills with 271. Kyle McCauley of Orange Coast is second in the state in kill percentage at .383.
In other quarterfinal matches, No. 7 Grossmont will play at No. 2 El Camino, No. 6 Santiago Canyon travels to No. 3 Long Beach and No. 5 Moorpark goes to No. 4 Irvine Valley.