Pirates bounce Dons

In just under one hour, Orange Coast, ranked No. 2 in the state, took

down visiting Santa Ana, 30-13, 30-17, 30-15, in women’s volleyball

Friday in the Orange Empire Conference opener for both teams.

Sophomore opposite Christine Woller led the way for the Pirates

with 11 kills to go along with five digs and two blocks, while

freshman middle blocker Brenda Bailey tallied eight kills.

The Pirates were never threatened in the match as head coach Chuck

Cutenese went to his bench freely to work on facets of their game.

Only in the second game were the Dons able to stay within 10 points

late in the game, hanging around at 23-13. However, freshman outside

hitter Chontel Palomino posted two of her six kills, along with a

Bailey kill, to stretch it to 26-13.

“It was nice to come out and win in three games tonight, but there

are still things that we can improve on,” said Cutenese. “My concern

is that we were pleased with our performance, but should not be

satisfied. We have a big match on Wednesday with Irvine Valley and we

need to keep getting better.”

Sophomore setter Amber McCarthy steadied the Coast ship with 28

assists along with five service aces and a pair of kills. Melissa

Sherman led the defense with seven digs.

Orange Coast (7-0, 1-0 in conference) visits Irvine Valley in a

conference match at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Jacot, Prather lead OCC

* SOCCER: Michelle Jacot and Emily Prather each scored goals 25

minutes on each side of halftime to give host Orange Coast a 2-0

women’s soccer victory over Santa Ana Friday in Orange Empire

Conference play.

The victory pulls the Pirates (4-4-0, 3-3-0 in the OEC) back to

the .500 mark after dropping a 3-0 decision to Saddleback Sept. 26.

Some hard work and persistent dribbling through midfield by

defender Allison Apodaca produced the first Coast goal at the

20-minute mark.

With the Dons deploying an offsides trap the entire game with the

defense pulled up, Apodaca sliced through the defense and down the

left flank before crossing to the back post. Jacot gathered the ball

and fired at the right post into the top side of the net.

Despite having several breakaway chances thwarted throughout the

game, the Bucs finally were able to capitalize with 13 minutes

remaining. Yet again it was a Coast defender that provided the

service, this time coming from Katie Santora. Her ball through

midfield released Prather with just goalkeeper Wendy Figueroa to

beat. Each player made an attempt at the ball, but neither connected.

The ball squirted free and Prather slotted into the open net.

Michelle Vahdatipour earned the clean sheet for the Pirates in

net, making four saves in the process. Figueroa tallied six saves in

a losing effort.

Orange Coast visits district-rival Golden West at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Mesa sweeps Orange

* VOLLEYBALL: Lindsey Navarrette recorded 11 kills and five service aces and Jenny Sparks added 20 assists and five aces Friday

as the visiting Costa Mesa High girls volleyball team swept Orange,

25-8, 26-24, 25-23, in Golden West League action.

“We played really well in the first game and lost a little focus

in the second and third games,” said Mesa Coach Allison Salladin,

whose team improved to 2-3, 2-1 in league. Orange fell to 2-4, 0-3.

The Mustangs travel to Estancia at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Serpas scores twice

* SOCCER: Freshman forward Jose Serpas scored the first and last

goal Friday for the Orange Coast College men’s soccer team as the

Pirates defeated Golden West, 4-2, in Orange Empire Conference

action.

The Pirates, who improved to 5-2-1, 2-0-1 in the OEC, got on the

board in the 25th minute when Serpas scored on an assist by Matt

Fennell.

The Pirates doubled their lead in the 38th minute on a goal by Eli

Solis.

OCC, which never trailed, went ahead, 3-1, on Fennell’s goal, then

Serpas gave Orange Coast its margin of victory with his second goal.

‘Eaters lose to Cal Poly

* SOCCER: On AYSO Region 57 Night at Anteater Soccer Stadium, the

host UC Irvine women’s team lost to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 2-1, on

Friday in a Big West Conference opener.

The Mustangs (10-1, 1-0 in the Big West) got on the board early as

Erin Martin headed in a corner kick by Stephanie Hedien in the

seventh minute. In the 71st minute Sharon Day (Costa Mesa High) took

a pass down the line by Heidi Spink all the way down for a breakaway

goal for the Mustangs.

UCI (6-3-2, 0-1) was awarded a free kick just outside of the

penalty box in the 78th minute, in which senior Hayley McNallan

converted with a shot low to the ground and went through goalkeeper

Liz Hill’s legs.

UCI shut out by USD

* SOCCER: Michael Caso scored an unassisted goal in the 35th

minute for host University of San Diego as USD edged UC Irvine, 1-0,

in men’s soccer action Friday night. UCI goalie Ryan Mathy had four

saves.

UCI stumbles in Idaho

* VOLLEYBALL: UC Irvine suffered its first conference loss of the

season after falling to Idaho 25-30, 22-30, 30-15, 31-29, 17-15 Thursday in Moscow, Idaho. The loss snapped a five-game winning

streak for the Anteaters as they fell to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the

Big West Conference.

UCI held a comfortable lead, winning the first two games as the

Vandals hit .047 in the first game and .024 in game two. However,

Idaho rallied in the third game to spark the Vandals’ five-game win

and improve to 7-5, 1-3 in Big West action.

UCI’s Kelly Wing led UCI with 21 kills and nine blocks. Dana

Kurzbard added 14 kills and recorded a career-high 10 block assists and 11 total blocks. Setter Ashlie Hain dished out 54 assists and had

15 digs, while libero Brenda Waterman led the team with 18 digs. UCI

meets Utah State at 6 p.m. today.

Wolverines best Tars

* GOLF: Newport Harbor High sophomore Natalie Draganza was

medalist for the third time this week, but host Aliso Niguel earned a

226-228 Sea View League girls golf victory over the Sailors Thursday

at Aliso Viejo Golf Club.

Draganza had birdies on the par-5 No. 7 and the par-5 No. 9, en

route to shooting par 36.

Kayleigh Horn (40), Ashley Jacobs (46), Marissa Zender (52) and

Erin Callahan (54) also scored for the Sailors, who are now 4-5, 0-2

in league.