OCC, Golden West meet again in playoffs

The Orange Coast College-Golden West rivalry in women’s volleyball is about to get sweeter.

That’s because the Pirates, the defending state champions, will play host to the Rustlers tonight at 7 in the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

This is the firt time the two teams have met in the playoffs sine 2001 when Golden West swept Orange Coast in the state title match. The Pirates seemingly recovered from that, but the Rustlers delivered another blow earlier this season.

Golden West dfeated Orange Coast in four games on Oct. 11, which snammed the Pirates’ school-record 36-match winning streak.

Orange Coast returned the favor with a sweep on Nov. 3 at the Pirates’ gym. But the Rustlers had already landed a big-time dent on OCC because it had to settle for a share of the Orange Empire Conference title with Fullerton.

But the playoffs are a new season and the Pirates are eager to send the Rustlers home.

Orange Coast, the No. 2 seed, opened the playoffs with a four-game win over Bakersfield on Tuesday. The Pirates are led by sophomore Kiwi Winkler, who was named American Volleyball Coaches Assocation second-team All-American. She also earned first-team Orange Empire Conference honors, but was not named the conference’s MVP like she was last season.

“I don’t care right now,” Winkler said Tuesday of the awards. “At the moment I don’t think about it. After the playoffs, I can think about it then.”

Jacqi Reed, Jennifer Chiffer and Chelsea Spadaro are also key players for the Pirates.

OCC EARNS HONORS

Orange Coast College freshman outside hitter Jacqi Reed and sophomore outsider hitter Kiwi Winkler made the Orange Empire Conference women’s volleyball first team after leading the Pirates to a share of the conference championship.

Making the second team for Orange Coast (19-2 overall, 12-2 conference) were sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Chiffer, sophomore libero Ashlee Moon and sophomore opposite Joanna Johnson.

Fullerton College sophomore outside hitter Lindsay Laakso earned the MVP award.

She averaged 4.78 kills and 5.21 digs per game in conference play.