Tony's Time Capsule: The 2006 Women's Volleyball Team

COSTA MESA -- With the sporting world on hold in all levels, fans from around the world are forced to sit back and think of the "good ol' days" and it's these opportunities where legends of the past are remembered for the legacy they've left behind.

In my 14 years at Orange Coast College, I've been fortunate enough to witness and write about 27 state championships over that time. That number alone is more than most colleges around our state have won in their entire history. OCC's 94 total state/national titles have our school among the best of the best in the history of California Community Colleges.

So over the next several weeks, I'm going to turn back the clock and remember some of my best memories about some of my all-time favorite teams. Not JUST because of state championships, but because of the memories these teams and their players bring back to me. 

I thought I'd start with the first state championship I ever saw in person, which was the 2006 women's volleyball team. I remember being hired in May of 2006 and looking through our team's results from that previous year and the one that stood out the most was the 26-0 WVB team that not only went undefeated and won the state title, they did so with several key freshmen leading the way. So heading into my first fall semester of sports, I knew to keep an eye on that team and enjoy every moment of each match. 

"It was definitely a different mindset from the 2005 team to the 2006 team," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. "In 2005, we didn't have any expectations and we managed to go undefeated and win state. But heading into 2006, there was so much more pressure on the team and the rest of the state was gunning for us. We had a solid core of sophomore returners, but our freshmen were not sure what to expect so they had to learn to play at a high level right away because people were looking to knock us off."

After starting the season 10-0, OCC saw its 36-match unbeaten streak come to an end with a four-set loss to Golden West. It was a turning point for the Pirates, who relied on two-time All-American and future OCC Hall of Famer, Kiwi Winkler for the majority of the points on the floor. But, according to Cutenese, it was the off-the-court leadership from players like sophomore Joanna Johnson that helped keep the Pirates heading into the right direction. 

"I remember after we lost to Golden West, I told them that we could either dwell on this loss, or move past it," Cutenese said. "I found out later that Joanna had invited the team over for a get-together and they all reset their goals and recommitted to what we wanted to accomplish for the season. Kiwi was definitely our leader in practice, but Jo was definitely our off-the-court leader. It's so important to have that team bond and to have that leadership to rely on during tough matches."

Coast finished the regular season 18-2 and cruised through the first two matches of the playoffs, including a three-set win in a rematch with the rival Rustlers, sending Coast into the State Tournament.

"Unfortunately for us, most of our team wasn't feeling all that well heading up to Fresno," Cutenese recalled. "There was a bug of some sort going through our team so we tried to quarantine those who felt the worst and just hoped we'd be ready to go for our first match."

OCC opened with a four-set win over Shasta College and earned the opportunity to face top-seeded San Joaquin Delta in the second round. After narrowly beating the Mustangs in the state title match in 2005, both teams knew the importance of this match. In the first of two matches on Day 2, the Pirates found themselves down 2-1 in the match and 29-27 in the fourth set. Coast overcame a pair of match-point opportunities to tie the set at 29, but Delta continued to push and led 30-29, 31-30, 32-31, 33-32 and 34-33, only to see the Pirates survive and hang on. Finally, at 34-33, a Delta kill attempt was called in and the match was over, forcing OCC into the loser's bracket ... 

Or ... not. 

Seconds after the call was made and Delta players were celebrating on the court, the head official atop the net overturned the call and ruled the ball out, turning a 35-33 OCC loss into a 34-34 tie. "When that call was made, Delta began celebrating, but after it was called correctly, you could feel the momentum come to us," Winkler said back in 2006.

Sure enough, from there, a long Delta return and a Winkler kill gave Coast a 36-34 win in the fourth set. OCC would cruise in the fifth set, 15-8 and the Pirates remained in the winner's bracket. Delta, the top-ranked team in the state, followed that heartbreaking loss less than an hour later with a five-set loss to San Diego Mesa and just like that, their season was over.

In addition to the consistently dominate efforts of Winkler (33 kills, 10 digs), Coast saw the future of the program step up as freshman Jacqi Reed added 20 kills and 10 digs. "Delta did everything they could to make Kiwi work hard on every point, so we had to go to Jacqi and she really stepped up for us," Cutenese said. "That was her best match of the season and it came at a time where we really needed her to perform."

With that bullet dodged, the Pirates regrouped and said enough was enough.

"After that match against Delta, Kiwi told everyone that there was no way we would put ourselves in that position again, where we had to survive a fifth set," Cutenese said. "The pressure was on Kiwi to perform all season and she definitely lived up to that pressure."

OCC returned to action later that night with a four-set win over Sacramento City and advanced to the championship finals. There, the Pirates watched Sacramento and L.A. Pierce beat the hell out of each other in a five-set marathon which was eventually won by Pierce. The Brahmas had to quickly catch their breath and take on the rested Pirates for the title and after a close opening set, OCC turned on the jets and took the breath out of Pierce with a 30-24, 30-21, 30-19 win. 

My favorite memory of that day came following the conclusion of the match. I go out and interview Kiwi and after talking with her all year, she became one of my favorites on the team. I went up to give her a hug and she said with her German accent, "Are you sure you want to hug me? I'm all sweaty." I'll never forget that. 

That sophomore group of Winkler, Johnson, Ashlee Moon, Angela Roberts, Kissa Kent, Eva Johnson and Jennifer Chiffer -- otherwise known as "The Magnificent Seven" -- finished their two-year career at OCC with a record of 51-2 and back-to-back state championships. Four of those players -- Moon (Florida State), Joanna Johnson (Alaska-Anchorage), Eva Johnson (Hawaii Pacific) and Kent (Kansas Wesleyan) continued on at the four-year level, while Winkler continued on to a successful beach volleyball career. 

But Cutenese knew what was needed to get to the top of the mountain and the OCC freshman duo of Reed and setter Chelsea Spadaro (Hawaii-Hilo) stepped up and came through throughout the season. "We knew we needed a second hitter and a setter heading into the season and those two really got the job done for us," Cutenese said. 

It was a team for the ages. It was a team that had the microscope on them and they answered the bell time and time again. And it's a team that will forever be remembered. "I always tell each team, leave your year on the (championship) banner and that team did it," Cutenese said.