Orange Coast College

Broom service: Pirates sweep away Golden West

Friday, November 03, 2006

COSTA MESA - It was the type of performance that head coach Chuck Cutenese has been waiting for all year and it could not have come at a better time.
Led by Kiwi Winkler's 18-kill, 15-dig performance, the second-ranked Pirates erased any lingering bad memories of their lone loss with a three-game sweep over rival Golden West, 30-25, 30-17, 30-28 on Friday at the Peterson Gym.
"I've said all along that I felt we could play better as a team and tonight, we proved that," a sweaty Cutenese said after the match. "Things just clicked tonight. We had a great start to the match and a great finish."

Winkler (left) not only provided not only led by example on the floor, she provided sophomore leadership prior to the match.
"Some of our younger players were saying they were a bit nervous and Kiwi told them, 'How can you be nervous? These are the type of matches you dream about,'" Cutenese said. "She definitely showed that she's a leader on this team and she helped them get mentally ready for the match."
Unlike the first time the two teams met - a four-game win for the Rustlers back on Oct. 11 - the physical size of ninth-ranked GWC was answered with a spread-out offense that stretched the Rustler blockers all over the floor.
"The first time we faced them, we couldn't get anything done on the inside, so they focused on stopping our outside, which they did," Cutenese said. "Tonight, we really did a great job of getting everyone involved and by doing that, the blocks came at us late and we were able to hit our shots."

Setter Chelsea Spadaro (pictured left) surprised the Rustlers with 10 second-hit kills to go along with her 38 assists.
Jacqi Reed added nine kills and Joanna Johnson chipped in seven kills and five blocks. Strong in the middle was Eva Johnson (three kills, six blocks), while Ashlee Moon (pictured right) provided 14 digs and two service aces

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Game 1 saw the lead change sides nine different times with no team really able to take control. That all changed when OCC (17-1, 10-1 in the Orange Empire Conference) ended the game with a 6-0 run, turning a 25-24 deficit into a Game 1 win. A Reed ace and a pair of Winkler kills highlighted the late spurt.
Golden West (12-4, 9-2 in conference) was its own worst enemy in Game 2 as several unforced errors helped the Pirates seize control of things. OCC went on a 10-2 run to take an 18-11 lead and never looked back.
"Golden West is so big, it's hard to match up with them so we practiced against our guys' team to help simulate the height we'd have to encounter," Cutenese said. "I really think that made a huge difference in how we were prepared for tonight. We were able to run the middle a lot more on offense. Players like (Jennifer Chiffer, four kills) and Eva (pictured left) were much more involved tonight."

Golden West would not go quietly in Game 3. The Rustlers erased a 14-9 deficit with a 7-1 run to take a 16-15 advantage. The Rustlers were led by Leslie Ray's 10 kills and Kassie Faulkner's eight kills. Jana-Lee Mays dished out 34 assists.

Game 3 was similar to Game 1 as both teams took turns with the lead. Finally, with the game tied at 28, a net violation by Golden West was followed by a Reed (pictured right) kill to end the match.
With back-to-back wins over Fullerton and Golden West, the Pirates have earned some breathing room atop the OEC standings, but Cutenese knows the season is far from over."
"We still have to play at Riverside (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) and they're a talented team," Cutenese said. "Then, we've got to go to Irvine Valley (Friday, 6 p.m.) and they took us to five games last time, so there's still a long ways to go."
Following those two road matches, the Pirates wrap up the regular season at home against Saddleback on Nov. 15, beginning at 7 p.m.