Pirates victimized by Rustlers’ sweep

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The postmortem was as succinct as the demise for the Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team Wednesday night.

Host Golden West ambushed the Pirates, 25-17, 25-23, 25-13, in an Orange Empire Conference match that left veteran OCC Coach Chuck Cutenese in no mood to coat the setback, the Pirates’ second in its last four matches after beginning the season 10-0, with much context.

“It didn’t surprise me,” said Cutenese, whose Pirates fell to 12-2, 4-2 in conference. “We always expect a good match from Golden West. Their strength is their middles. We new they were going to provide trouble and they did.”

Golden West middle blocker Taylor Cook led the winners (11-2, 5-1) with 10 kills. The 6-foot sophomore also was in on a team-high five blocks and added a team-best two ace serves.

Janell Putnam, a 6-4 sophomore middle, also stood out for the Rustlers, collecting eight kills and three solo blocks.

The Pirates’ biggest lead was 4-1 in the second set, as Golden West amassed double-digit leads in the first and third games.

OCC sophomore outside hitter Jessica Brown, a Newport Harbor High product, had a match-high 12 kills, two more than Pirates’ freshman outside hitter Rachel Freeno.

Freshman Karlee Skalla chipped in six kills for the Pirates, who had trouble sustaining anything.

“It’s really clear,” Cutenese said. “We didn’t take care of the ball. [The Rustlers] played aggressively and we didn’t play aggressively. We had a game plan and we didn’t stick to the game plan.”

Cutenese declined to elaborate on what specifically the game plan called for, again pinpointing the source of his team’s ills in the passing department.

Cutenese could be excused for being a little shell-shocked, especially since the Pirates had been having their way with teams until an Oct. 10 conference loss to Cypress. To that point, OCC had won 30 of 32 games and had swept nine of its first 10 foes.

After falling in four games to Cypress, OCC rebounded with a four-game win over Irvine Valley, before sweeping Santa Ana Friday.

But Golden West was the only dominant team on the floor Wednesday, as Cook and Putnam consistently found a soft spot in the OCC defense. Whether it was pounding quick sets, thumping overpasses or bombing away on more traditional arching sets, the Rustlers middles, as Cutenese pointed out, lived up to their scouting report.

OCC had its best chance to make a match of it in the second set, when a combo block by Skalla and freshman Briana Fields capped an early run that left the visitors on top, 4-1.

Golden West pulled even, 5-5, and the two teams traded momentum, until the Rustlers scored four straight points to pull away from a 17-17 deadlock.

Trailing, 24-19, however, OCC found some success. A kill by Skalla sparked the brief rally and Brown followed with back-to-back blasts to prompt a timeout from Golden West Co-Coaches Mike D’Alessandro and Alan Knipe, both of whom are filling in this season, according to Golden West Athletic Director and former legendary volleyball coach Albert Gasparian.

Skalla put away an Emily Lyon set after the timeout to pull the visitors within 24-23, but a quick kill by Putnam, a high school teammate of Freeno’s at Alta Loma High, finished out the match. Sophomore Kristy Trimble and freshman Alaynah Fielder added five kills apiece for the Rustlers.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.