Pirates swing to state championship match

Orange Coast College women’s volleyball drops its first game of the season, but rebounds to reach today’s final .FRESNO -- The Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team’s game-winning streak was snapped, but its will wasn’t.

The Pirates dropped a game to San Joaquin Delta -- the top seed from Northern California -- but recovered for a 30-28, 25-30, 30-20, 30-26 victory Saturday at the California Community College Women’s Volleyball Championships at Selland Arena.

Orange Coast (25-0), which won 73 consecutive games this season before the second-game setback, advanced to the championship match at 1 p.m. today. It will mark the Pirates’ first state title match appearance since 2001, when they finished as the state runner-up.

They will face either San Joaquin Delta or El Camino in the championship match. The two schools will face off in a 10 a.m. loser’s bracket final to determine who meets Orange Coast for the championship.

All-American Kiwi Winkler tallied a career-high 32 kills and 32 digs to lead the Pirates against San Joaquin Delta.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Orange Coast Coach Chuck Cutenese said. “I’m excited, I’m nervous. I respect all ... of those teams and all ... of those coaches a great deal.”

San Joaquin Delta took advantage of five Orange Coast hitting errors to capture the second game of their match.

The Pirates bounced back in game three, getting a huge boost from Aabria Lipscomb to regain the lead. Lipscomb tallied three kills, two blocks and an ace as the Pirates turned a 13-13 tie into a 28-18 advantage. Lipscomb finished the match with eight kills and six blocks (two solo) in the match.

Joanna Johnson added eight kills. Libero Ashlee Moon recorded 17 digs, and Caitlin Parker dished out a season-high 56 assists.

“One of the things this team has always had is a lot of character and a lot of heart,” said Cutenese. “When we lost the game, we all just took a deep breath, said that it has happened [and] now let’s just go play volleyball.”

The Pirates, the No. 1 seed from Southern California, faced a strong test in the morning match against L.A. Pierce. But the Pirates kept their perfect mark intact with a 30-25, 30-23, 30-19 win over the Brahmas.

Winkler was again the top hitter with 17 kills to go along with 10 digs. Christina Witt gave the Pirates a lift with three service aces.

Ray added 10 kills, and Samantha Connor and Eva Johnson combined for 11 kills and seven blocks. Parker dished out 38 assists.200512118I1LT25DNo Caption