Moorpark College men’s volleyball had their season ended by Irvine Valley College Tuesday night, Apr. 17, in the California State Quarter-Finals. Irvine Valley won in four games by a 3-1 score in front of a crowd of about 400 according to the Moorpark fans who traveled to the game.
This quarter-final match up was not the first time the two teams have squared off. On Feb. 13, Irvine Valley came to Raider Pavilion and lost in three straight games.
It was a different result this time around for the Raiders. Irvine Valley won the first two games 25-18, 25-22 taking a commanding lead. The Raiders fought back to win the third game 25-18, but that was it as Irvine Valley won the fourth and final game 25-17.
Sophomore outside hitter, Tyler Petersen, finished his last match as a Raider in good fashion by recording 16 kills for the contest. Sophomores, Evan Litchfield and Dylan Shigekawa, each had their own stat line to be proud of. Litchfield led the attack by way of his 34 assists, while Shigekawa did his best to keep the ball off the floor with 23 digs.
Coach Steve Burkhart wasn’t surprised that Irvine Valley won the game, despite having beating them earlier in the season so handedly.
“[Irvine Valley] played very well and to their credit, improved tremendously since we last played them,” said Burkhart. “But, also we didn’t play our best.”
Sophomore middle blocker, Josh Duarte, had seven blocks in the match and felt like they let the game slip.
“Irvine’s passing was much more consistent then ours,” said Duarte. “I think that was the key difference between the game on Tuesday and when we played them earlier in the season.”
There are six sophomores on their way out of Moorpark this season, five of which started for Burkhart throughout the year. That leaves 10 freshmen for next year’s team, along with any recruits the coaching staff intend to bring in.
The Raiders finished the season 3rd in the Western State Conference along with an overall record of (11-7).
When asked about the final thoughts of the 2012 men’s volleyball team, Burkhart said, “I was proud of them, they broke boundaries, which they had never done before.”
