Pirates open with a sweep

Orange Coast women’s volleyball opens quest for state title by taking out Fresno City in three games, faces L.A. Pierce next.Even on the road, the streak is alive for Orange Coast College’s women’s volleyball team.

The Pirates rolled in their opener at the California Community College state championships, sweeping Fresno City College, 30-14, 30-20, 30-18, in a first-round match Friday night at Selland Arena on the Fresno State campus.

OCC (23-0) advanced to meet Los Angeles Pierce, a winner in four games against West Valley, in a 10 a.m. second-round match. A victory over Pierce would put the Pirates into the 4 p.m. winner’s bracket final.

The three-day tournament is double-elimination, except for the championship match.

Despite playing in an unfamiliar venue, the Pirates had little trouble adjusting, Coach Chuck Cutenese said.

“We drove up yesterday and had practice time last night, so that put us at ease,” Cutenese said. “I didn’t feel like we were nervous at all.”

Samantha Connor led Orange Coast with 16 kills. Kiwi Winkler added 15 kills and a match-high 28 digs, and Brittany Ray had 14 kills and 20 digs. Caitlyn Parker posted 45 assists.

The Pirates outdug Fresno, 94-77, and held the Rams to a .078 hitting percentage. Fresno’s frontline of 6-foot middle blockers Caitlin Merrell and Megan Roehl, 6-foot right side hitter Katie Franz and 5-foot-10 outside hitter Lauren Storey managed just 22 kills.

Cutenese went with two setters -- an off-and-on experiment for the team this season -- and the combination worked well against the Rams.

“We went with that [the 6-2 offense] early on tonight and that clicked real well,” Cutenese said. “We get the steady performance from Kiwi, Samantha, Joanna [Johnson] and Brittany [Ray], but when you run in and out of a 6-2, there’s some momentum that can get lost. The 6-2 ran real smoothly tonight.”