Pirates take down Shasta

FRESNO — The Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team began defense of its state title with a 30-13, 30-20, 28-30, 30-20 victory over Shasta in the double-elimination tournament of the California Community College Commission on Athletics State Championships Friday.

Two-time All-American Kiwi Winkler led the Pirates (22-2) with 29 kills and 12 digs.

“I’m proud of the way the girls came out and played a very aggressive style of volleyball,” Pirates’ Coach Chuck Cutenese said in a press release. “After the long drive and an hour’s worth of practice, we’ve been sitting around here ready to play, so it was nice to see us come out strong early.”

The Pirates will face San Joaquin Delta College today at 10 a.m. in the eight-team tourney. Delta (24-1) was a 29-31, 30-23, 30-26, 31-29 winner over L.A. Pierce Friday.

Orange Coast, the No. 2 seed, went on a 12-1 run in the first game to take a commanding, 21-9, lead over Shasta, the No. 3 seed. Winkler had nine kills in the first game.

The Pirates, who had 10 blocks in the first two games, went on a 16-5 run in the second game to take a 25-14 lead.

“We did a lot of good things out there,” Cutenese said. “Our passing, serving and defense were all very strong.”

In the fourth game, the Pirates stormed out to a 12-2 lead. Shasta closed the gap to 16-12, but OCC rallied to make it 22-13.

Jacqi Reed had 10 kills for Orange Coast, Ashlee Moon had 21 digs and Chelsea Spadaro had 46 assists. Jennifer Chiffer and Eva Johnson had six blocks each.