The562’s coverage of Vikings athletics is sponsored in part by Long Beach City College.
Long Beach City College men’s volleyball is traveling to Orange Coast on Thursday for the CCCAA State semifinals. The Vikings (13-6, 11-1) won the Western State-South Conference and their opening SoCal Regional match against Santa Monica to reach the semis.
LBCC is trying to win its second State title in the last five years.
This season a balanced offensive attack and good defense has been key to the Vikings success. Sophomore middle blocker and opposite hitter Shane Nhem is averaging over three kills per set. Outside hitters Mohamed Benkrid and Kameron Tufuga have both recorded over 100 kills this year while freshman setter Willy Wang is averaging 4.33 assists per set.
Tufuga leads LBCC with 66 digs this season while sophomore Lucca Mamone and Nehm both have over 30 blocks.
The State semifinal at OCC is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Baseball
The Vikings (26-11, 15-6) is finishing its season with a conference series at Cerritos this week before the regional playoffs start on May 3.
Reef Danner, Ryan Neck, Olin Snakenborg and Luke Davis have led LBCC offensively with over 50 hits each. Davis has a team-high 44 RBI and 13 home runs. Geck, a Millikan High product, has 39 RBI and eight home runs. Danner has an impressive 20 stolen bases.
Softball
LBCC (28-9, 16-3) is at home for three games this week where they’ve only lost three games this season. The Vikings only have one more road game at El Camino on Thursday before the regional playoffs on May 3.
Freshman Anaya Togia has been incredible at the plate for LBCC this season and leads the team with .516 batting average, .877 slugging percentage, 57 RBI, eight home runs and 20 doubles. Meanwhile, Bayleigh Fry has been a phenomenal ace with 128 strikeouts in 145 innings while carrying a 2.12 ERA.
