Pirates stumble early, come alive to beat Hornets in four

COSTA MESA -- After a slow start, the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team picked things up and put away visiting Fullerton College in a four-game victory on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

For the first time all season, the Pirates (ranked No. 2 in the state) lost a set in the match, but they quickly responded and rolled past the Hornets, 21-25, 25-9, 25-13, 25-17 to improve to 7-0 overall, 1-0 in the Orange Empire Conference.

It was another impressive performance for several Pirate players, including sophomore outside hitter Karlee Riggs, who put away 18 kills and notched 17 digs in the win.

Morgan Link added nine kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while Dana Nicholson added seven kills and 13 digs.

On defense, libero Andi Frisina led the way with 24 digs, while setter Allison Lumsden dished out 41 assists.

For the Hornets (4-4, 0-1), Jordyn Hecker led the way with 15 kills, while teammate Shawna Chung added 13.

Coast led in the opening game 15-13 before the strong hitting of Hecker (three kills, one block) and Chung (two kills) sparked an 8-1 run, putting Fullerton up for good.

Coast took advantage of sloppy play by the Hornets to creep to within one at 21-20 before the Hornets closed out the set with a 4-1 run, ending OCC's run of consecutive sets won at 18.

The second game was all about strong serves and the Pirates had a ton of them to bury the Hornets early.

After a 5-0 run put OCC up 6-1, Fullerton responded with three straight to make it 6-4, but Frisina baffled the Hornets with a barrage of knuckle-ball serves, sparking a 10-0 run to blow the set wide open.

Riggs helped even the match at a set apiece with four kills down the stretch.

Coast carried the momentum from Game 2 into Game 3 and jumped out to a 17-7 lead, thanks to six kills from Riggs and a pair from Link. After a brief Hornet run, Coast used three straight putaways by Nicholson to cap off a 7-1 run to close the set out.

In the fourth game, strong serves from reserve Lindsay Romero (three aces) helped put Coast up 9-3 -- a lead the Pirates would not lose the rest of the night.

Fullerton used a pair of blocks from Emilee Sorbom to get to within five at 17-12, but three kills from Isabel Emrich and single kills from Riggs and Nicholson helped end the match for the Pirates.

OCC will return to action on Wednesday at Saddleback College (6 p.m.). The Pirates will return to the Peterson Gym on Friday night against Riverside City College (6 p.m.).