Coast stumbles against Rustlers

Chris Yemma

With a victory against No. 1-ranked Golden West College already under

its belt, the host Orange Coast women’s volleyball team came out

unintimidated.

And after a first-game win Wednesday evening against the visiting

Rustlers, Orange Coast was still confident. But it didn’t last, as

Golden West won the next three to take the match 23-30, 30-22, 30-16,

30-25, in both teams’ last Orange Empire Conference and

regular-season match.

“We showed a lot of confidence in the first game, but it didn’t

last,” Pirates’ Coach Chuck Cutenese said. “There was a momentum

shift in game two and we couldn’t recover.”

The Pirates (14-5, 10-4 in the OEC) came out firing in the first

game, going up 17-11 before Golden West (19-1, 13-1) called its first

timeout. Orange Coast stretched that lead to 22-14 before another

Rustlers’ timeout, and Coast appeared to be cruising in the driver’s

seat.

But a shift soon occurred. The Rustlers had an early-lead

advantage in the second game, completely dominated the third and the

Pirates were left staggering in the fourth.

“I don’t know what it was,” said sophomore outside hitter and

Coast’s all-time career kill leader Melissa Zapiain, who finished the

match with 24 kills. “I don’t know if we just weren’t prepared, or we

were too confident, but there was a lot of miscommunication.”

The Pirates couldn’t seem to stop Golden West’s middle blocker

Taylor Love, who had 14 kills and six blocks.

With the end of the regular season, though, Coast will have a

fresh start in the playoffs. The Pirates will be playing in the first

round of the Southern California regional playoffs Tuesday against a

team still to be determined.

Until then, the Pirates will be practicing.

“We need to work on playing as a team, because there’s so much

talent here,” Zapiain said.