Orange Coast College

Pirates rally to top Irvine Valley in five

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

COSTA MESA - It's not exactly Phi Beta Kappa volleyball, but for the Orange Coast College Pirates, an ugly win always tops a pretty loss.

After falling behind two games to one with several unforced errors, the Pirates rallied late to hold off Irvine Valley, 30-24, 30-32, 30-32, 30-18, 15-10 on Wednesday night in Orange Empire Conference action.
Sophomore standout Kiwi Winkler (pictured left) led the way with 31 kills and 31 digs for the Pirates (12-1, 5-1 in conference). Jacqi Reed added 20 kills and 16 digs, while Ashlee Moon supplied defensive support with 19 digs. Chelsea Spadaro paced the Pirate offense with 51 assists.
After winning the opening game, the Pirates served for both the second and third games, only to have the Lasers (8-5, 4-2) rise to the challenge and pull them both out.
Natalie Dittrick (20 kills) and Lauren Miller (18 kills) were instrumental in both comeback wins, while Lindsay Bledsoe (31 digs) stymied the OCC attack with some big-time work in the back. Kelly Keating dished out 58 assists for IVC as well, but it just wasn't enough to keep the Pirates out of the match.
OCC came out of Game 4 determined to take care of business and the Bucs did just that, jumping out to a comfortable lead midway through the game and forced a fifth and deciding game.
In Game 5, Winkler and Reed continued to bomb away at the Laser defense and despite a valiant effort, the balls began to fall with regularity as a pair of mini-runs gave OCC the lead for good.
The Pirates return to action on Friday when they close out the first round of conference play at Saddleback, beginning at 7 p.m. OCC returns to the Peterson Gym on Wednesday, Oct. 25 against Cypress, also at 7.