Community college women’s volleyball: Pirates dealt first loss of

season

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - The damage was done to the Orange Coast College

women’s volleyball team, but the Pirates were still able to have the last

laugh against their rival Golden West Wednesday. The visiting Rustlers

snapped OCC’s 18-match winning streak with a 30-24, 30-14, 26-30, 20-30,

15-8 Orange Empire Conference victory, but because the Pirates forced a

fifth game, they’re able to grab the state tournament’s No. 1 seed if

they win at Fullerton Friday.

However, if both teams win Friday (Golden West plays at Cypress), the

squads will share the OEC title.

“I’m not upset,” said OCC Coach Chuck Cutenese. “I’m glad that we

didn’t roll over after the first two games. (The loss) is good for us.

Now it’s time to get focused, push ahead, learn from it and move on.”

Down 2-0 in games the Pirates (18-1, 12-1 in the OEC) roared back,

riding the momentum from sophomore outside hitter Katja Muller, who led

with a match-high 27 kills and 13 digs. Krystle Davis amassed 21 kills

and seven blocks, while Rachelle Suesoff set 36 assists.

But the Rustlers (17-2, 12-1) were a different team than when it lost

in four games Oct. 19. They proved such with their fifth-game victory,

capitalizing on OCC errors to build a 10-5 lead.

“We’re more balanced than we were (earlier in the season,” said Golden

West Coach Albert Gasparian, who admitted Wednesday’s matchup was not the

last he saw of the Pirates.

The state championship final is the only way the two teams will meet

in the state tournament, if OCC grabs the No. 1 seed as expected.

“This is a big match for (Fullerton),” Cutenese said. “They are a

middle-of-the-road team and would really want to get into the

tournament.”

OCC will also play with incentive because of its contention for the

No. 1 seed, Cutenese said. The Pirates showed some of that desire against

Golden West.

They answered a Game 2 loss that saw the Rustlers grab control with a

10-0 run. But, OCC came back with a steady Game 3 performance,

maintaining a three- to four-point lead throughout.

In Game 4, after five ties, the Pirates grabbed the momentum with an

11-0 run with Janelle Jeremiah (three aces) serving.