Briefs: Pirates moving on
Seven Orange Coast College men’s volleyball players have secured homes at four-year schools, Pirates Coach Travis Turner announced.
Five members of the 2015 squad —- Nick Amado (Long Beach State), Ryan Clayton (UC Santa Barbara) Steven Duhoux (University of Hawaii), Kevin Hayden (USC) and Jake Thibodeau (Grand Canyon University) —- will compete at the Division I level.
Sean Keyes will compete at Division III powerhouse Baruch College in New York, while Chris Horner will play at the NAIA level at Sienna Heights College in Michigan.
Amado was a two-time, first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference middle blocker who notched 409 kills and 176 total blocks in his two seasons. His 22 aces in 2015 lead the Pirates, as did his 108 total blocks.
The 6-foot-7 Clayton played in six matches for the Pirates and notched 10 kills and nine blocks.
Duhoux, a Newport Harbor High product, came to OCC after one year at Irvine Valley College and the sophomore setter earned second-team All-PCC honors after dishing out 772 assists to go along with 27 kills, 10 aces, 103 digs and 53 blocks. He was a third-team All-PCC setter for the Lasers in 2014.
Hayden, a freshman libero from Foothill High, played in 13 matches off of the bench and collected 12 digs.
Thibodeau, a freshman outside hitter, played in 10 matches and had 10 kills and seven digs.
Kyle Hurst, a freshman middle blocker out of Newport Harbor who started last year, will transfer to UCSB but will not play volleyball.
— From staff reports
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Wynne adds crown
Former Vanguard men’s basketball All-American Preston Wynne led EWE Baskets to the 2014-2015 Bundersliga championship in Germany.
Wynne led the Oldenburg-based team in scoring at 17.2 per game. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals
The 6-foot-1 guard shot 46.2% from the field and made 73 three-pointers. He also shot 84% from the foul line and averaged just more than 32 minutes per game.
Wynne led Vanguard to the 2014 NAIA title, the school’s first, by averaging 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals. He helped the Lions win their first Golden State Athletic Conference title since 1990 and was named GSAC Player of the Year.
“Vanguard helped me in so many ways; not only in basketball but in life,” Wynne said in a statement released by the school. “The constant love the community showed for me while I was there made me a better, happier person. When I was in Germany I brought that way of life with me.”
— From staff reports
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Burch joins Buckeyes
Former Orange Coast College player and UC Irvine assistant coach Kevin Burch has joined the Ohio State men’s volleyball coaching staff as a full-time assistant.
Burch, who captained the 2008 team at Orange Coast, was a volunteer assistant at Ohio State during the 2011 season in which the Buckeyes won the NCAA championship.
He was an assistant at Springfield College, which won the NCAA Division III title in 2012, then was an assistant for UCI’s national championship team in 2013.
He returned to Springfield College in 2014, where he was a part of another NCAA Division III campaign, before spending the 2014 season as the Penn State women’s program’s director of operations during their run to the national title.
He has been part of national championship teams the last five seasons, at four schools.
— From staff reports