Orange Coast swept

Steve Virgen

Call it The Pirates’ Wild Ride, because it was the Orange Coast

College women’s volleyball team that rode momentum up and down, until

Palomar took the advantage and the match for a 15-10, 15-13, 16-14,

victory Wednesday night at Costa Mesa High School.

“We’re just really ‘roller coaster,”’ OCC’s Lauren Wilson (19 kills)

said of the Pirates’ play throughout the match. “This one got away from

us. We feel like we should’ve won it, definitely. We just have to finish

out games.”

After suffering a 15-10 loss in the first game, OCC (5-3) bounced back

and built a 13-4 lead in the second game. But then Palomar retaliated

with an 11-0 run for the win.

“We’re up and down with our emotions, excitement and ball control,”

OCC Coach Chuck Cutenese said. “We’ve been talking about staying steady

throughout a game. But we’re playing without a gameplan.”

Cutenese also mentioned that the Pirates were without three of their

starters, who were all lost to ankle injuries. Thursday, outside hitter

Tasha Evelyn went down. Friday, Kelly McFarland hurt her ankle. And

Brooke Khun injured her right ankle during Monday’s practice.

The injuries added to the Pirate’s ride of momentum. They were bound

to overcome the setbacks as Cutenese refused to lean on the injuries as

an excuse.

“This was really a missed opportunity for us,” he said. “There was no

reason for us to lose that match.”

Palomar (3-1) broke open the third game with a 9-2 lead. And then, as

if on cue, OCC responded with a comeback and caught the Comets at 13-13.

The intensity was back for the Pirates, but just as Wilson said, OCC

couldn’t finish and Palomar took over as Jamie Bence nailed the final

blow with the winning kill.

“You never know with them. You have to be careful,” Palomar Coach Karl

Seiler said of OCC’s momentum. “I thought we had taken the life out of

them after coming back in Game 2. But they came back on us. They showed

some heart.”