2005-06 SEASONS IN REVIEW:Pirates women crank things up a notch

Orange Coast College had one of its best years in recent memory in women’s sports, capturing 10 conference championships and four state titles while producing five conference coaches of the year and three conference Most Valuable Players.

The women’s volleyball team, the women’s tennis team, the women’s cross country team and the women’s swim team all captured state championships for the Pirates.

Volleyball: Coach Chuck Cutenese’s team finished with a perfect 26-0 record and nearly went wire-to-wire without dropping a single game.

The Pirates lost the second game against San Joaquin Delta in the semifinals of the state championships at Selland Arena in Fresno, but came back for a four-game victory behind All-American Kiwi Winkler’s career-high 32 kills and 32 digs.

Winkler was named Orange Empire Conference Most Valuable Player.

The Pirates won 73 consecutive games before the second-game setback.

In the state title match, Orange Coast faced San Joaquin Delta again. This time the Pirates posted a 22-30, 30-19, 13-30, 30-22, 15-12 victory. Fittingly, it was Winkler who put away match point with a kill.

It was the first time since 2001 that the Pirates reached the title match, when they finished as the state runner-up. It also marked the first state championship in Cutenese’s 15 seasons at the helm.

Sophomores Samantha Connor (Wright State), Brittney Ray (Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee), Caitlin Parker (Cal Baptist) and Christina Witt (Chapman University) all committed to four-year universities following the season.

Connor, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, was a first-team all-conference pick.

Ray, who amassed 205 kills and 305 digs, was a first-team all-conference pick, as was Parker, who amassed 768 assists as the team’s setter.

Tennis: For the second straight year, the Pirates captured the state title by defeating Santa Rosa, 5-3, to finish 21-0.

In the final, the Pirates split their six singles matches then won their first two doubles matches to earn the victory.

It was the program’s eighth state team championship.

The Pirates were led by Jessica Rice, Emily Paulson, Jaleh Mazaheri, Shauna Durbin, Goldie Rivera and Julie Haley.

Mazaheri and Paulson reached the state semifinals in doubles and Rice reached the state singles quarterfinals.

The trio of Rice, Paulson and Haley all moved on to Concordia University, where they plan to compete together.

Rice and Haley each went 29-0 in dual-match play over the past two seasons, while Paulson went 27-2.

Rice was OCC’s Female Athlete of the Year.

Cross country: Jewel Butler and Araceli Huerta led the way to a fifth straight state title with top-10 finishes at Woodword Park in Fresno.

Butler ran the three-mile course in 19 minutes, 8 seconds to take finish fourth and Huerta was seventh (19:18).

Elda Hernandez was 14th in 19:32, Samantha Cadwell was 15th in 19:33, and Kelly Oelschlager was 22nd in 19:41.

The Pirates (62 points) won big over second-place Riverside (161).

In the Southern California regional finals, the Pirates placed five runners in the top 21 to take first place at UC San Diego.

Gaby Santana was eighth (19: 43.5) on the five-kilometer course, Butler was 11th and Hernandez was 18th.

Swimming: The Pirates won the state swimming and diving crown for the second time in four years.

They tallied 385.5 points to edge Sierra College (373) in the finals at Pasadena City College.

It marked a return to the glory days for the Pirates, who won seven consecutive state titles from 1989 to 1995.

Jackie Palmero was second in the 100-yard butterfly (58.34 seconds). She was second in the 50 butterfly (26.36) and the 50 backstroke (27.68).

Tuesday Schellinger, Ashley Maher, Hailey Barker and Palmero were third in the 400 freestyle relay.

Other top contributors included Laura Demeneces, Jenny Black and Jeanette Demeneces.

Don Watson was named Coach of the Year in the state and the conference.

Basketball: Coach Mike Thornton’s heroic cast overcame a lot to reach the state semifinals, where they fell to Mt. San Antonio College, 56-38, to finish 30-6.

Only the Pirates state championship team of 2002-03 won more games (31-6).

The Bucs tied for second in conference and won a school-record 27 regular-season games.

Sophomores Jillian Ricks, Crystal McCormick and Madison Parks were first-team all-conference performers.

Ricks (UC San Diego), Parks (Long Beach State), McCormick (BYU-Hawaii), and Valerie Katayama (Redlands) all secured futures at four-year schools.

Ricks, Parks and McCormick provided the bulk of the scoring, while Katayama was a co-captain and defensive stopper.

Track and field: Jewel Butler won the state title in the 1,500 meters to highlight the season.

Butler’s personal-best time of 4 minutes, 42.6 seconds edged defending champion Brittany Grimes of Bakersfield.

Butler’s time beat her Southern California Regional finals clocking of 4:50.53 and her Orange Empire Conference finals effort of 4:46.

The team ninth with 24 points.

Gabriela Santana, the Orange Empire Conference MVP, was third in the 5,000 in 18:54.34 at state finals, where Huerta was fifth in the 10,000 in 40:18.0 and the 3,000 steeplechase (12:25.34).

Water polo: Former Newport Harbor High star Sarah Mutt led the defensive charge, while sophomore center Jeanette DeMeneces, along with Laura DeMeneces and Dena DeBerry helped lead the offensive charge to a conference co-title.

OCC finished 16-5.

Softball: Alexandra Wilson and Britney McAleer were second-team all-conference picks.

Wilson batted .330 with 17 runs and 41 hits and was named team MVP. McAleer, a freshman from Costa Mesa, hit .287 with 30 RBIs and 43 hits, including two home runs in one game against Saddleback. She was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year.