Pirate women No. 1 in state rankings

A new season brings with it the same number the Orange Coast

College women’s water polo team finished last season -- No. 1.

California Community College water polo coaches voted Orange Coast

as the top team in their preseason poll with 138 points, five more

than No. 2-Long Beach City, which captured seven first-place votes

out of a possible 13 to the Pirates’ five.

Coaches picked Sierra third with 118 points, Riverside fourth with

117 and Merced fifth with 108. Merced picked up one first-place vote.

Orange Coast beat Merced, 5-4, in the state semifinals a year ago

en route to their first women’s water polo state championship. The

Pirates finished 35-0 against community college teams last season

with their only loss coming to UC Irvine, an NCAA Division I-team.

The Pirates became just the third team in the six-year history of

CCC women’s water polo to win a state title. OCC lost four

All-Americans but returns starters Heather Deyden, Shari Meyer, Erica

Nicholson and Nichole Sonnenfeld.

Deyden, a Newport Harbor High product, saved 179 shots in goal

while gaining All-Orange Empire Conference and All-American honors.

Nicholson and Sonnenfeld each scored 58 goals, while Nicholson

collected 60 steals with Sonnenfeld amassing 37 steals. Meyer had 10

steals and scored 18 goals.

Pirates’ head coach Mike Giles had a solid recruiting season,

picking up seven All-CIF players, including five who won Most

Valuable Player-laurels at their respective high schools.

The Pirates begin their season Saturday at the two-day Cypress

Tournament.

Coaches gave OCC’s men’s water polo team 14 points, not enough to

crack the Top 10 in the men’s preseason poll of the state’s community

college water polo teams.

The Golden West Rustlers were selected as the preseason favorite

to repeat as state champions for the men, collecting 91 points. Long

Beach City garnered 84 points to take the No. 2 spot in the poll and

Riverside begins the season in the third spot (76 points).

OCC finished last season 15-18, 4-4 in the Orange Empire

Conference, losing 11-4 to Cuesta in the Southern California Regional

playoffs.

The Pirates return three players from last year’s team for new

head coach Mike Stachowski. Greg Worthing, Matt DeMartino and Caine

Littrell are expected to provide experience and leadership for the

Pirates.

The 6-foot-4 DeMartino is one of six Pirates who are 6-4 or

taller.

OCC competes against Los Angeles Valley today in the second day of

the two-day Ventura College Tournament.

*

Much credit for the LeBard Stadium field and other fields on

campus can be given to OCC’s new grounds supervisor, Sean Rivell.

Rivell became the supervisor five months ago after moving here

from New Jersey with a degree in ornamental horticulture, said the

schools maintenance and operations coordinator, Jerry Wass.

Rivell is in charge of all landscaping, sporting fields,

irrigation and trees on campus.

“I advised (Sean) that (sporting fields) are a big part of our

campus and need to be maintained,” Wass said. “Most of us are working

closer with athletic director Fred Hokanson to provide the best

fields available for the students.”

A combination of the correct timing for irrigation, seeding,

aerating and spraying have all contributed to the stadium field as

well as other fields across campus.

Wass looked to LeBard Stadium first because he said it’s the most

notable field on campus.

“The stadium, soccer and baseball fields are all important, but

the No. 1 priority is the stadium because that one gets the most

outside critiquing. You might have 1,000 people attending a football

game.”

People have noticed the greener pastures.

“Everyone on campus tells me how wonderful the campus looks,” Wass

said. “We’ve worked real hard to make a lot of irrigation repairs

over the last 30 years.”

The department has purchased a new mower to handle the fields,

Wass said.

Weather can be the most influential variable Wass and crew have to

deal with when maintaining the fields no matter the right equipment,

chemicals, seeds and irrigation schedule.

“You could do all the right things and have really nasty weather,”

Wass said. “You could have the seed down and not get the right kind

of sunshine when it’s time to germinate and it won’t do much good.”

It helps that Rivell has a degree in horticulture and is more

familiar with analyzing soil and chemicals than the previous

supervisor Adam Jones, who came from a golf course management

background, Wass said.

*OCC’s fall sports season got underway this week with the men’s

and women’s soccer teams.

The women were 2-0 as of Friday, shutting out Chaffey 2-0 in their

second game, as freshman Vanessa Rocha scored one goal and added an

assist in the win while sophomore midfielder Fernanda Velasco scored

the other Pirates’ goal on an assist by Rocha.

In their first game, a 2-1 win over visiting Mt. San Antonio

College, OCC sophomore and former Corona del Mar High standout Jaycee

Mahler broke the school’s career scoring mark with her two goals, the

second one on a breakaway in the final minute that gave her 35 goals

in 27 games played at Coast.

She broke Newport Harbor High product Taylor Yurada’s mark of 34

goals set during 1998-99. Mahler was humble after the game when asked

about breaking the record saying she felt bad because Yurada is “so

nice.”

The women continue their undefeated season, as they beat visiting

El Camino. 5-1 Friday.

As of today the men’s soccer team is 2-2, after defeating visiting

El Camino, 2-1 Friday.

Their win came Tuesday, a 7-0 defeat of Imperial Valley led by the

two-goal efforts of Derek Martell, Miguel Ochoa and Jarred Zitt.

Even more impressive was the Pirates’ defense, which didn’t allow

a shot on goal and didn’t let Imperial Valley’s forwards get past

midfield more than a couple times during the last 20 minutes.

*

As September marches on more sports will start up in the next few

weeks.

Both women’s and men’s water polo teams begin action with weekend

tournaments Friday and Saturday. The women will play in the Cypress

Tournament while the men travel to Ventura to play the two-day

Ventura Tournament.

Women’s golf opened up with the Orange Empire Conference Classic

Wednesday and will play Mt. San Antonio at Costa Mesa Golf & Country

Club at 11 a.m. Monday.

The women’s volleyball team opens the season Friday at

Southwestern while the football team hosts East Los Angeles at 7 p.m.

a day later on Sept. 14. The men’s and women’s cross country teams

Sept. 14 at the Fresno Invitational.