Men's Volleyball

4/18/09 - San Diego Mesa men's volleyball coach John Landicho was elected President of the California Community College Men's Volleyball Coaches Association (CCCMVCA) today. He will serve a two-year term thru the 2011 season.

Coach Landicho will provide leadership to the coaches of the Pacific Coast Conference and the Western States Conference, and facilitate communication between the coaches & the California Community College Athletics Association, the governing body of CC athletics in the state.  "It is a great honor to represent the outstanding coaches we have in California CC men's volleyball", said Landicho, "and it's a nice reflection on the SD Mesa men's volleyball program that I was selected for this position after only our first year here.  I think it says a lot about our program, coaching staff, and players that the leadership for California CC men's volleyball will come in part from Mesa."   

4/15/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team ended the 2009 campaign by suffering a 30-21, 30-18, 30-24 road loss to two-time defending state champs Irvine Valley.

Handicapped by the loss of OH Tyler D'Egidio, ranked second in the Pacific Coast Conference in kills per game, and whose season was ended early by a severely strained back, the Olympians simply had trouble mustering enough firepower to counter the talented & deep Lasers.  OH Cody Reeves capped off a fine freshman campaign by tallying 13 kills and six digs.  Chris Ducoulombier added seven kills in two games of action, while libero Kyle Wulff had seven digs on the night. Stephen Spieker, ranked second in the PCC going into the match in assists per game, ended his strong freshman season with a 32 assist effort.

The Olympians, who were winless in the Pacific Coast Conference over the last two seasons, finish the 2009 season with three PCC wins.

4/8/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team could not counter the more physical play of visiting Palomar College, and dropped a 30-26, 30-23, 30-27 decision to the Comets.

Tyler D'Egidio tallied 19 kills on the night and Cody Reeves added 15, but the Olympians could muster little else against the taller Comets.  Mesa held a lead through much of game three, but at 24-22 Palomar ran off five straight points to take control of the set.

Reves also had eight digs on the evening, and libero Kyle Wulff added six.  Stephen Spieker totalled 39 assists in the match.  With three Pacific Coast Conference wins in 2009 after not winning a PCC match over the last two seasons, Mesa closes out the season with a trip to PCC-leading Irvine Valley on April 15th. 

Mesa MVB setter Stephen Spieker has earned Pacific Coast Conference Athlete of the Week Honorable Mention, for the week of March 30th.

Spieker tallied 109 assists in Mesa's three-match week, two of them wins. He had 29 in Mesa's loss to Orange Coast on wednesday, 39 in Mesa's sweep of Grossmont on Thursday, and 41 more in Mesa's win over San Diego City. Spieker, a freshman from Ramona H.S., is currently ranked third in the PCC in assists per game. 

4/3/09 - There are two words that haven't been associated with the Mesa MVB program in years:

Winning streak.

It's a very modest one, but the Olympians enter Spring Break on a such a streak, after defeating visiting San Diego City 30-28, 30-25, 30-16, for its second win in a row.

Playing its third match in three days & coming off an emotional win over Grossmont the night before, the Olympians were not spectacular but got better as the match went on, taking advantage of City errors and its own balanced play. Tyler D'Egidio again led Mesa with 14 kills, Cody Reeves had 12, and Justin Morris added nine. Stephen Spieker had 41 assists on the night.

4/2/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team used sustained periods of good play, timely hitting, and unforced errors from visiting Grossmont College, to earn a hard-fought 30-21, 31-29, 30-26 victory over the Griffins, at the Mesa Gymnasium.

The Olympians used extended point runs and an out-of-rhythm Griffin offense to take the first set. Game two saw both teams exchange leads through the set, before the Olympians won a third set point for the set win. Mesa took advantage of untimely Grossmont errors late in game three to capture the match.

Tyler D'Egidio tallied 17 kills for Mesa, while fellow OH Cody Reeves added 14. Justin Morris and Tristin Allmond chipped in seven and six kills, respectively. Stephen Spieker totalled 39 assists, while a strong Mesa defense produced 27 digs and 11 total blocks.

4/1/09 - Orange Coast College used its superior skill and depth to hand the Mesa men's volleyball team a 30-18, 30-22, 30-24 loss, at the Costa Mesa campus.

Already adjusting to the loss of starting MB Mitch Wissing, the Olympians were further handcuffed as starting OH's Tyler D'Egidio and Cody Reeves were pulled for precautionary reasons with injury issues and only played part of the match.  The SDM-OCC match was the first of three consecutive matches in three days for Mesa.

D'Egidio notched 10 kills in two games, while OPP Justin Morris added eight in the match.  Stephen Spieker tallied 29 assists for the Olympians.  

3/27/09 - Starting middle blocker Mitch Wissing will transfer to the University of Oregon and begin his studies at the Eugene, OR campus with the start of the school's Spring quarter, March 30. 

Wissing was accepted to Oregon in the Fall of '08 and planned the mid-season move so he could play the majority of the Olympians' 2009 season and still get an early start on his studies. He finishes his abbreviated season as the team's kill, block, and passing efficiency leader (to date), as well as ranking in the Pacific Coast Conference's top five in kills per game. Wissing was previously selected as a PCC Athlete of the Week in mid-February, the only men's volleyball player in the conference to be accorded this honor to date. 

Wissing will continue his studies in Psychology at U of O. He is the fourth student-athlete from the Mesa MVB program in 2008-09 to transfer and continue his studies at the next level. The Mesa men's volleyball family thanks Mitch for a great season and wishes him good luck & much success as he takes the next step in his academic career.

3/27/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team could not match the sustained strong play of visiting Golden West College, suffering a 30-23, 34-32, 30-26 loss at the Mesa Gymnasium.

Extended point runs in games one and three provided sufficient margins for the Rustlers to claim the sets. Game two featured fine play from both sides, with Mesa and GW both fighting off multiple game points before the Rustlers claimed the set.

In his last match for the Olympians, Mitch Wissing led Mesa with 20 points on 10 kills and 10 total blocks (nine solo) and added eight digs. Tyler D'Egidio tallied 16 kills, and Stephen Spieker had 31 assists.

3/20/09 - Two-time defending state champion Irvine Valley College countered fine play by Mesa with extended scoring runs of their own, earning a 30-24, 30-20, 30-28 win over the Olympians at the Mesa Gymnasium.

Game one was close until a late IVC run gained the win for the Lasers.  IVC would establish a comfortable lead midway through game two and cruised to the set win.  Mesa used a five-point run to close to 29-28 in game three and force a late IVC timeout, before a kill sealed the match for the Lasers.

Mitch Wissing continued his fine play for the Olympians, finishing the night with 17 kills on .424 hitting.  Tyler D'Egidio added 13 kills and 7 digs, and Stephen Spieker tallied 37 assists.  Cody Reeves and Kyle Wulff had eight and seven digs, respectively, for Mesa.

3/18/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team never got into a sustained rhythm against host Grossmont College, dropping a 30-27, 30-24, 30-26 decision at the El Cajon campus. Superior physical play carried the Griffins, offsetting a .327 hitting night for the Olympians. Mesa would carry a late 22-20 lead in game three, but could not extend the match into the fourth set.

Tyler D'Egidio continued his hot second-half of the season by leading Mesa with 16 kills. Mitch Wissing added 15 kills on .480 hitting, while Cody Reeves tallied nine. Stephen Spieker had 39 assists for the Olympians.

3/13/09 - The visiting Mesa men's volleyball team came from two games down to force a deciding fifth set, but fell short as Palomar survived with a 3-2 win, 30-25, 30-18, 14-30, 32-34, 17-15.

After a close game one, Palomar came out firing in game two, forging a big lead with strong hitting to take a 2-0 match lead.  The Olympians came right back with their own strong effort in game three, and clawed out a tight game four win to even the match.  Mesa overcame an early 4-0 lead by the Comets and overcame three match points after a 13-13 tie, before an Olympian hitting error gave the match to Palomar.

Tyler D'Egidio rang up 26 kills on .442 hitting, and added 7.5 blocks.  Cody Reeves added 14 kills, while Mitch Wissing had 11 kills and 6 digs.  Stephen Spieker had 58 assists, and added 7 kills.

3/11/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team finally earned a win in 2009, grinding out a 30-26, 30-17, 30-17 sweep over San Diego City College, at SDCC's Harry West Gymnasium.

The two teams went toe-to-toe in game one, exchanging leads before a late Mesa run gave game one to the Olympians. Solid serving and hitting enabled the Olympians to go out to comfortable leads in games two and three and secure the sweep.

Cody Reeves returned to the lineup after an illness and tallied 17 kills on .615 hitting, and also had 9 digs. Mitch Wissing added 14 kills at .417, while Justin Morris put down 11. Stephen Spieker set the Olympian offense to a .464 hitting efficiency with 41 assists.

3/6/09 - Orange Coast College used superior depth and physical play to post a 3-0 victory, 30-19, 30-26, 30-26, over the Mesa men's volleyball team at the Mesa Gymnasium.

The visiting Pirates used an early 9-0 run to cruise to the first set victory.  Set two saw back & forth action between the two squads, but OCC maintained a four-point advantage to take the set.  The Olympians came right back and built a 22-20 lead in the third set, but a late OCC run ended the set and match for the Pirates.

OH Tyler D'Egidio had 20 kills and six digs for the match.  MB Mitch Wissing was slowed by the OCC defense, but still managed 11 kills on the evening.  S Stephen Spieker logged 42 assists for Mesa, while OH James Russell and OPP Justin Morris added eight and six kills, respectively, to the Olympians' effort. 

3/4/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team opened up Pacific Coast Conference play by dropping a 30-21, 30-18, 30-20 match to host Golden West College.  The Rustlers combined strong all-around hitting with a lackluster Olympian effort to coast to the victory.

MB Mitch Wissing led Mesa with 17 kills on .375 hitting.  OH Tyler D'Egidio tallied 14 kills, while S Stephen Spieker totalled 36 assists. 

2/20/09 - The Mesa men's volleyball team closed out interconference play by going the distance against Santa Monica College before losing in five games, 30-20, 26-30, 30-20, 28-30, 15-7, at SMC.

The Olympians took advantage of solid passing, timely hitting, and SMC errors to earn hard-fought wins in games two and four.  However, the Corsairs used a strong block and middle attack to go out to a big lead in the deciding fifth set & cruised to the win.

OPP Cody Reeves returned to the lineup after being out two weeks due to a sprained ankle and had 14 kills for Mesa, while MB Mitch Wissing had 12 kills.  With OH Tyler D'Egidio not making the trip due to illness, Bobby Donahue started in his place and tallied nine kills.

Middle blocker Mitch Wissing was selected by the Pacific Coast Conference as one of its male Athletes of the Week, for the week ending February 15th.  Wissing shares the award with Miramar College basketball player Ian Larsson.

Wissing followed up a 13-kill performance last Wednesday against Long Beach City with a 21-kill effort (.392 hitting efficiency) against El Camino on Friday night. Combined, Wissing logged 34 kills (.305, 4.86 kpg), five total blocks, six digs, and two aces for the two matches, scoring 5.71 ppg against the two Western States Conference powers. For the season, Wissing has totaled 56 kills, five aces, 15 digs, 11 total blocks, and is scoring 4.41 points per game. He also leads the team in passing at 2.38, a stat even more noteworthy as he is the rare middle blocker who is not replaced by the libero for passing/defensive purposes; he plays in all six rotations for Mesa.

Wissing is the first Mesa MVB player in recent memory to be afforded PCC Athlete of the Week honors.  Congratulations to Mitch on a great week of volleyball and his award.

2/13/09 - El Camino College fought thru a strong effort by the Mesa men's volleyball to gain a hard-fought 3-1 win, 30-28, 30-19, 24-30, 30-26, at the Mesa Gymnasium.

After a spirited game one, which saw multiple lead changes between the two teams, El Camino used an eight-point run early in game two to extend its match lead to two games. Mesa came back strong in game three, using a combined 14 kills from Mitch Wissing and Tyler D'Egidio and two solo blocks each from Stephen Spieker and Tristin Allmond for the 30-24 win. Game four again saw close play from both teams, until a late Warriors run at 25-25 gained the match win for El Camino.

Wissing finished a monster night with 21 kills on .392 hitting, two aces, and four blocks. D'Egidio also was fantastic with 19 kills, three blocks, and seven digs. Spieker tallied 47 assists to go along with 5.5 blocks and four digs. Chris Ducoulombier and James Russell added six and five digs, respectively, as the Olympians were strong defensively with 16 blocks and 29 digs on the night.

2/11/09 - Long Beach City College used overwhelming power & athleticism in dealing the visiting Mesa men's volleyball team a three-game sweep, 30-22, 30-19, 30-28.

Even though the Olympians would be able to hold its own at times, multiple-point runs by the Vikings, keyed by their block and MB attack, would doom Mesa in games one and two.  Mesa would establish a lead midway through game three, and then exchange points thru 28-28, before a two-point run by LBCC finished off the match.

Mitch Wissing led Mesa with 13 kills, while Tyler D'Egidio added eight kills and five digs.  Stephen Spieker tallied 27 assists, while Chris Ducoulombier had 10 digs in his first start at OH for the Olympians.

2/6/09 - Mesa continued its three match road swing with a 3-1 loss to Santa Barbara City College, 30-21, 28-30, 30-22, 30-22.

The Vaqueros used a 7-1 run to start game one, to establish a lead they would not relinquish. The Olympians used OH Tyler D'Egidio's eight kills in game two to earn the game win. SBCC would take advantage of Mesa passing and hitting errors to take the last two games and the match.

D'Egidio finished the match with a team high 14 kills and eight digs, and MB Mitch Wissing added five kills and 4.5 blocks. OH Cody Reeves and L Kyle Wulff added eight and six digs, respectively. Stephen Spieker returned to the setter spot after a one match absence due to injury & had 25 assists for the Olympians.

2/4/09 - Another physically superior team dealt the Mesa men's volleyball team a defeat, as Pierce College's powerful play resulted in a three-game sweep, 30-24, 30-23, 30-22, at Woodland Hills.

Pierce established a solid lead in game one before Chris Ducoulombier sparked Mesa off the bench with a four-point run off the service line, before the Brahmas extended their lead for the game win.  The Olympians brushed aside a 7-0 run by Pierce with solid play to close to 9-11 in game two, before the Brahmas would pull way.  Pierce established a quick lead in game three and cruised to the sweep on a string of Mesa errors.

Mitch Wissing led the Olympians with nine kills, in his return to the MB position.  With starting setter Stephen Spieker not making the trip due to a sprained ankle, Tyler D'Egidio tallied 19 assists in two games as the setter.

1/28/09 - The Moorpark College men's volleyball team used superior height and athleticism to overwhelm Mesa, 30-17, 30-22, 30-24, in the 2009 season opener for both teams at the Mesa Gymnasium.  The teams exchanged points thru 12-12 in game 1, when Moorpark went on an 18-5 run to take game one.  Moorpark would go on to establish comfortable leads in both games 2 and 3 to complete the sweep.

OPP Cody Reeves led Mesa with 10 kills, with OH Mitch Wissing adding 9 kills in the match.  Stephen Spieker tallied 28 assists for the Olympians, who next travel to Pierce College for a 7:00 pm match on Wednesday, February 4th. 

Alex Partida, a member of the Mesa MVB 2008 fall training team, will be transferring to Kingsborough College in New York to continue his studies and will forego the 2009 season with the Olympians.  Partida, a 6'3" MB who had already earned his Bachelor's degree from San Diego State Univ. in '08, will continue his pre-med studies at the Brooklyn school.  Mesa MVB wishes Alex good luck and much success as he continues his quest to attend medical school.

Steve Rindfleisch Jr., a member of the 2008 Mesa MVB fall training team, is transferring to BYU-Idaho to continue his studies and will forego his sophomore season at Mesa.  Rindfleisch, a 6'8" MB from Grossmont College who was a projected starter for Mesa in 2009, had previously completed his two-year mission for the Mormon Church before enrolling at Mesa in the Fall.  Olympians MVB wishes Steve good luck & much success as he continues his academic career. 

Johnny Kahoohanohano, a member of the 2008 Mesa MVB fall training team, has received a scholarship to Siena Heights University to play volleyball and will transfer to the Michigan school in time to play for the Saints in 2009.  Kahoohanohano, a 6'1" OH, also played his freshman season for Mesa's 2008 men's team.  Congratulations to Johnny and best wishes to him as he takes the next step in his academic and athletic career.