One goal at a time for the Pirates

Bryce Alderton

Reaching the state championship is in the far reaches of Chuck

Cutenese’s radar screen; he prefers to concentrate on more sequential

goals, like settling on a starting lineup for the Orange Coast

College women’s volleyball team.

“One of the things we learned last year was we looked ahead and

struggled to get through matches,” said Cutenese, the 2001 Orange

Empire Conference Coach of the Year, after he led the Pirates to a

second-place finish at the state tournament. “We’ve all set goals for

ourselves and right now it’s finding a starting lineup. (Players)

have not talked about the state tournament except to talk about

getting back there and the preparation for this season. Players are

pushing to be on the starting lineup.”

Balance and experience come to mind when Cutenese describes his

team, the strongest group Cutenese said he’s seen in 10 years

coaching at Coast.

“Since I’ve been a head coach, one through 14, this is the

strongest team I’ve had. The team comes in with the most experience

in both high school and club and that is promising. We’re very

excited as a coaching staff. Offensively we’re much more balanced

which will make us a tougher team.”

The Pirates return four sophomores to a team of 10 freshmen.

Cutenese will look to freshmen Michelle Zapiain and Kelly Overby

to fill the void left by all-state performer from a year ago, Katja

Miller.

Zapiain played at University High in Irvine and originally was

headed to West Virginia University, but decided to stay close to home

and play for OCC. Overby played on Coast’s badminton team last

season, taking a year off from volleyball, but regained the desire

and passion to compete again.

“We’re looking for (Zapiain) and (Overby) to step into that role,”

Cutenese said. “Both of them are capable physically but don’t have

the experience Muller has but they will get it and learn the system

and play within it. Both are freshman so were excited about that.”

Even though Cutenese said Muller will be missed, he said he has

players that can fill the void.

“It’s hard to replace someone that does everything that (Muller)

has done,” Cutenese said, “ We lose our big gun but we’ve picked up

more players who can do well with the ball.”

Leading the charge of Coast’s four sophomores are co-captains

Krystle Davis and Casey Petersen.

Davis, a left-handed opposite, turned in a dominant debut season

last year, gaining All-Orange Empire Conference and All-Southern

California First Team accolades while recording 236 kills, hitting a

robust .301. Petersen placed third on OCC last season with 132 kills

and posted 193 digs.

“(Davis) and (Petersen) are focused on their sophomore seasons in

both conditioning and volleyball, which is why they were both chosen

as captains, and they’ve been through it during the state

tournament,” Cutenese said. “Their motivation keeps them driven and

feeds to our freshmen.”

Sophomore defenders Tiffany Skoug and Janelle Jeremiah will

compete for the starting libero position, new to the women’s college

game this season.

The libero is a defensive player that can enter and exit the

lineup with unlimited substitutions, but is not allowed to serve,

attack or set within the attack line.

Cutenese’s 10 freshmen have learned the system relatively quickly.

“(The freshmen) have progressed a lot quicker than I anticipated

and have learned how to play together quickly,” Cutenese said.

Freshman setter Elisha Counts might have the biggest shoes to fill

with the departure of 2001 all-conference performer Amber McCarthy,

who is redshirting this season.

Counts has been out of high school for two years, but moved down

to the area from Sacramento. She will direct the Bucs’ offense as

freshman Jessica Lippi will backup Counts.

Coast’s offense also features attackers Jessica Lingo, Michelle

Vanderford, Marti Merriott, Christine Ryan, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker

Nicole Buckley and Melissa Sherman.

Lingo and Merriott will push for playing time in the six-woman

lineup, Cutenese said.

Joining Cutenese on the coaching staff this season will be Bill

Brown, who takes over the top assistant position, volunteers Ki Yi

and 13-year veteran Adrian Carrillo, and three former Coast players

in Bryn Gillis, Ryan Hiskey and Fernando Sabla.

Cutenese said the first match against host Southwestern Friday at

5 p.m. and the contests to follow will show which players can play

gel together.

“I think that players do well in a game situation more than they

do in practice,” Cutenese said. “It gives us the opportunity to find

a lineup. I have a really good coaching staff and we all have

different opinions on who should be starting and which ones work best

together.”

Freshman setter out of Tustin High Jamison Flojo (5-3) will

redshirt with the team, Cutenese said.

The flu bug bit Ryan this week and Cutenese sent her home Monday

with hopes she can return to practice by Wednesday and be ready for

Friday’s opener.

“I told (Ryan) to go home, get lots of fluids and come back

Wednesday,” Cutenese said.

Besides Ryan’s illness, Cutenese said no players have suffered

injuries.