Pirates sweep Chargers; set up showdown with GWC
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's volleyball team did what they had to do on Friday night to maintain a share of first place in the Orange Empire Conference standings, sweeping past Cypress College, 25-23, 25-18, 26-24.
The win will set up a classic showdown between the Pirates (18-1, 12-1) and Golden West (18-3, 12-1) on Wednesday night (7 p.m.) inside OCC's Peterson Gym. The winner of Wednesday's match will win the OEC title outright and will most likely earn the No. 2 seed in the Southern California Regional playoffs. Golden West kept pace with Coast on Friday with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-18 win over Riverside City College.
Karlee Riggs led the Pirates (ranked No. 3 in the state) with 15 kills and eight digs. Leslie Stiner filled in for sophomore opposite Isabel Emrich (flu) and notched 10 kills, while Morgan Link added six kills.
Allison Lumsden dished out 35 assists, while libero Andi Frisina came up big with 28 digs.
For the Chargers (9-10, 8-5), Ashley Flores had 10 kills, while Casandra Jimenez added nine.
Coast came out blazing hot in the opening set and jumped out to an 11-2 lead before the Chargers began to slowly chip away at the deficit.
Things looked good for Coast with a 23-18 advantage, but a 5-1 Cypress run got the Chargers to within a point at 24-23 before a kill by Riggs finally sealed the first set.
After a back-and-forth start to the second set, Coast used a 10-2 run to grab 22-13 lead and was never threatened the rest of the game.
Coast came out flat in the third set as the Chargers grabbed the early lead and held it throughout the game.
A service winner by Danielle Manzano put the Chargers up 20-16 before the Pirates finally made their move.
With Cypress holding on to a 23-20 advantage, a wide serve by the Chargers made it 23-21. Kourtney Chadderdon came through with a block to make it 23-22 and Riggs tied the game up with a strong service winner.
After Cypress called timeout, the Chargers were charged with an illegal rotation, putting Coast up 24-23.
Cypress avoided the first match point with a block by Damillia Foster, but Coast ended the match with a Riggs' kill and a Charger net violation.
