Pirates roll

All-State outside hitter Melissa Zapiain had a match-best 25 kills

and 27 digs to lead No. 4-seeded Orange Coast to a 30-27, 20-23,

21-30, 30-18 victory over fifth-seeded Cuesta, Saturday night in the

second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on the OCC

campus.

The Pirates continued their roll since getting Zapiain back three

matches ago after an ankle injury saw Coast go 2-3 without her. The

Bucs also got major contributions out of their bench as Jessica

Lingo, Tiffany Skoug, Marti Merriott and Michelle Vanderfor all

stepped up to give the team a lift.

“They are the ones in the toughest position,” said Coach Chuck

Cutenese of his reserve players. “Those are all the things you need

out of your bench and that was huge for us. That’s what your bench is

supposed to do. The fact we were able to do that in a playoff game

was big for us.”

Kelly Overby added 12 kills for Coast, while Krystle Davis posted

10 kills, 13 digs and three aces. Jessica Lippi dished out 35 assists

while Casey Petersen and Janelle Jeremiah tallied 14 and 11 digs,

respectively.

“I would say we’re playing our best volleyball now,” Cutenese

continued. “I thought we were a little nervous in the first game, but

the second game we settled in and pushed through pretty well.”

Orange Coast (19-3) moves on to the state tournament, Dec. 6-8.