Pirates bounce back and advance

PASADENA — Feather River College provided a soft landing for Orange Coast, which swept the Golden Eagles to stave off elimination on the opening day of the California Community College Athletic Assn. state women’s volleyball tournament Friday at Pasadena City College.

The Pirates’ commanding 25-17, 25-13, 25-12 triumph began just 35 minutes after OCC (21-5), the No. 1 seed from Southern California, dropped an 11-25, 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10 decision to Fresno City (26-5), the No. 4 seed from Northern California.

And while OCC Coach Chuck Cutenese would have preferred an opening-round triumph, that would have meant advancing to today’s action with just one match, he was pleased that his team played well enough to take the suspense, and most of the anxiety, out of the late 55-minute drubbing of Feather River (19-11).

OCC, attempting to claim its third state crown in the last four years, will need two wins today to remain alive in the double-elimination format. The Pirates face the loser of the Sacramento-Santa Rosa morning match today at 1 p.m. If victorious, OCC would then play at 7 p.m. for the right to return Sunday.

“We have some girls who are injured, so rest doesn’t help them,” Cutenese said. “I wanted to start that second match as soon as possible.”

Cutenese said he was disappointed that it came to a second match Friday.

“This late in the year, you can’t lose like that. We came out extremely aggressive in that first [set against Fresno City] and I think that may have worked against us, because we may have thought [the Rams] were going to roll over and play dead.”

Instead, the Rams bounced back with plenty of life, before OCC freshman middle blocker Briana Fields pounded eight of her team-high 19 kills in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.

OCC opened leads of 4-1 and 7-2 in the fifth set, but couldn’t hold on.

Against Feather River, the Pirates maintained consistent focus and used better offensive balance to dispatch the No. 2 seed from the north.

Freshman outside hitter Rachel Freeno paced OCC with 12 kills against Feather River, with just one error for a .524 hitting percentage.

Fields added 10 kills, including seven in the second set, while sophomore Jessica Bodkin, a Newport Harbor High product, contributed nine kills and hit .538.

Freeno perhaps benefited most from the quick turnaround, as Cutenese revealed she has a torn right labrum that will require postseason surgery.

“Hopefully, she’ll be able to come back [today],” Cutenese said of the 5-foot-9 standout, who appeared to lack no velocity on her swings Friday. “She didn’t take a swing all week, until tonight. If she can’t come back, we’ll have to adjust our lineup.”

Sophomore setter Emily Lyon had 35 assists in the OCC win, after recording 43 in the opening setback.

Freshman opposite Karlee Skalla served six straight points in the opening set against Fresno and finished with four aces to go with nine kills and eight digs.

Freeno and freshman libero Amanda Cheseborough each had 12 digs against Fresno.

Cutenese said Fields, Lyon and Cheseborough provided consistently strong play in both matches Friday. He was, however, disappointed with what he termed a letdown in ball control and serving.

Fullerton was the only Southern California school to advance to the winner’s bracket. Irvine Valley, the Orange Empire Conference champion, lost twice Friday and was eliminated.

OCC finished third in conference, but gained the No. 1 SoCal seed by upsetting top-ranked Los Angeles Pierce in the regional playoffs.

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