Orange Coast College

Women's Volleyball: Pirates topple Lancers to advance in Regional playoffs

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

COSTA MESA – With offense to burn and success in the serve, the Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team topped visiting Pasadena City College, 25-27, 25-19, 25-12, 25-17 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Southern California Regional playoffs, held at OCC’s Peterson Gym.

Briana Fields (pictured left) led the Pirates (19-4) with 20 kills, while Rachel Freeno added 10 kills and 12 digs, Jessica Bodkin contributed nine kills and Karlee Skalla chipped in seven kills. Setter Emily Lyon dished out 50 assists to go along with a team-high six aces, while libero Amanda Cheseborough came up with 17 digs.

“I was very pleased with how we played tonight,” OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. “When we take care of the basics – when we’re hitting with power, passing well and serving well – we’re a pretty tough team and tonight, we did that most of the time.”

Ashley Marshman led the Lancers (16-7) with 15 kills, while Candice Price added 12. Vanessa Amran passed out 35 assists, while Marisa Rangel had seven digs.

“OCC is a very good team with an aggressive offense and a variety of offense to choose from,” PCC head coach Tammy Silva said. “We’re still in the building stages and as long as we continue to get better as a team, that’s all I can ask for.”

With the win, the Pirates will play the winner of the L.A. Pierce/Chaffey match on Saturday night, beginning at 7 p.m.

Coast led for most of Game 1 before a late PCC run turned the game around. Trailing 24-23, the Lancers fought off game point with a kill by Price, before Marshman closed out the game with a block, a kill and an assisted block with Galia Sotamayor to take the opener.

OCC jumped out early and unlike the first game, the Pirates maintained their strong play all the way through to even the match at a game apiece.

The final two games were all OCC as the Pirates racked up a majority of their 12 aces down the stretch. With the game tied at 11, Lyon (pictured right) sparked a 13-0 run, thanks in large part to five of her six aces coming in the final five points of that run. After a PCC kill by Price ended the streak, OCC put the next point away and took a 2-1 lead in the match.

In Game 4, it was Cheseborough’s turn to control things from the service line as her three aces capped off a 7-0 run, giving Coast a 15-8 lead. Pasadena got as close as 16-2 before the Pirates ripped off another 5-0 run to take a commanding 21-12 advantage.

A Price kill and a Jade Thompson ace helped get the Lancers to within 23-17, but it was too little, too late as kills by Bodkin and Christina Richards ended the match and the 2008 season for PCC.