Orange Coast College

Women's Volleyball: Pirates' 30-match home win streak snapped

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

COSTA MESA -- The Hope International University Royals were able to do something that hasn't been done in nearly three full years -- they tamed Orange Coast College on the Pirates' home court.

With 17 kills from Jillian Lane and nine kills from Jessica Morse, the Royals rallied from a 2-0 hole to top the two-time defending state champions, 26-30, 23-30, 30-26, 30-16, 15-11 on Wednesday in the Pirates' season-opener.

Jacqi Reed led the Pirates with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Emily Lyon added nine kills and dished out 37 assists and Deirdre Faipai added eight kills and 13 digs.

Libero Tracy Bjelland anchored the defense with 15 digs, but all of the Pirates' efforts weren't enough to keep the Royals from posting the first visitors' win at the Peterson Gym since Oct. 8, 2004 against Riverside -- a streak that reached 30 straight matches.

Things looked good early on as the Pirates took advantage of early Royal mistakes and used some strong all-around play to win the first two games.

However, late in Game 3, the momentum began to turn towards the guests. With the game tied a 22, a pair of key blocks and some strong hitting and serving from Lane sparked an 8-4 run, keeping HIU in the match.

Errant serves and returns were the plague for the Pirates in Game 4 as a 6-6 tie turned into a 28-14 HIU lead, setting up the tiebreaking Game 5.

Early in the fifth game, OCC appeared to have things under control as they led 7-6, but some strong play by the Royals gave them the lead for good. Sparked by kills by Lane, Morse, three key blocks and a missed return, the Royals went on a 7-1 run and never looked back. A Lane kill ended the match and capped off the Royals' comeback.

The Pirates will try and regroup when they play at San Bernardino Valley on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.