COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Rustlers Win Volleyball Title

Golden West completed a volleyball sweep that started last fall when the Rustlers beat Palomar in three games to win the State men’s volleyball title Saturday at Irvine Valley College.

The Rustlers won, 15-4, 16-14, 15-13. It was the second State volleyball title for Golden West this school year. The women’s team won it all in the fall.

It was also the third consecutive State men’s title for an Orange County college. Orange Coast won last year and Irvine Valley took the championship in 1993.

“Tonight scared me more than anything,” Golden West Coach Alan Knipe said. “But we just seemed to hit a lot better and we dug a lot of balls. . . . It was a great win for the conference and great for an Orange County school to win it in Orange County.”

The Rustlers (18-5) dominated the first game, 15-4, but Palomar pushed Golden West hard in the second game. Golden West led, 5-1, before Palomar came back and eventually tied it, 14-14.

The Rustlers scored the final two points, both on Palomar hitting errors, to win, 16-14. Palomar (16-4) appeared ready to go home at the start of the third game, falling behind, 4-0. But the Comets slowly built confidence and eventually led, 13-9.

But Golden West rallied with the help of two key Palomar errors. Twice Golden West got aces when Palomar back-row players let go serves that appeared long. Each time, the ball landed on the back line.

The second, served by Shadd Walker, put Golden West ahead, 14-13. Palomar was unable to return Walker’s next serve, setting off the Golden West celebration.

Greg Reitz, the tournament’s most valuable player, had a team-high 16 kills for Golden West.

“We were really confident going in tonight,” Reitz said. “Everything went really smoothly because we just stayed together as team.”

Phil Tifrea added 15 kills and Walker had 11 for Golden West. Tifrea, Brian Gordon and Nathan Larsen (53 assists) were selected to the All-State team for Golden West.

The title capped an emotional week in which Golden West had to win twice, each time in five games, Monday in the Southern California playoffs to earn a berth in the State tournament.

Then Friday, Golden West took on top-seeded Los Angeles Pierce and won, 3-15, 15-13, 15-12, 15-8, to advance to the final.

In Orange Empire Conference baseball:

Fullerton 11, Orange Coast 3--Saul Archuleta and Dan Bergmann each had three hits and three runs scored and James Jenkins added two hits and a run batted in for visiting Fullerton (19-14-1, 12-12).

Starter Scott Parsonage (9-2) gave up three runs and 10 hits to earn the victory for the Hornets. Orange Coast fell to 21-22, 11-13.

Saddleback 9, Cypress 4--Saddleback center fielder Lorne Rosas was four for four with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Ryan Johnson’s bases-empty home run highlighted a four-run fifth inning for the Gauchos (22-17, 12-12).

David Trentine and Corey Dean-Yeager each had three hits for Cypress (30-13-1, 15-9).