Pirates sweep Owls; will host Pasadena in next round
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's volleyball team opened its playoff schedule with a convincing 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 win over the shorthanded Citrus College Owls on Tuesday night inside the Peterson Gym.
With the win, the No. 4 seeded Pirates (19-2) will advance to the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs and will host No. 5 Pasadena City College (20-4) on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m. The Lancers swept past No. 12 Santa Barbara City College on Tuesday to advance to the second round, 25-20, 25-19, 25-15.
After a season-ending loss to Golden West that saw setter Allison Lumsden garner the second-highest amount of kills, the Coast offense found its groove once again.
Karlee Riggs continued her standout play with 18 kills and nine digs, while Morgan Link contributed seven kills and a .500 attack percentage. Dana Nicholson came up swinging all night long and finished with six kills and 11 digs.
Libero Andi Frisina finished tied with Nicholson for the team lead with 11 digs, while Lumsden continued her smart decision-making with 37 assists.
For the Owls (14-9), not only did they go up against a formidable opponent in the Pirates, but they were doing it without the services of two of their most important players -- middle blockers Kayla Eddings (192 kills, 47 total blocks) and Kimberly Collins (172 kills, 44 blocks). Both were injured prior to Tuesday's matchup and were not able to contribute.
After trailing 8-4 early on in the opening set, the Pirates regrouped and outscored the Owls, 14-6 and never looked back. Citrus got to within two on three different occasions down the stretch but could not get any closer.
Coast opened up a big lead early in the second set (18-10) before a 6-1 run by the Owls trimmed OCC's lead to three at 19-16. But the Pirates responded with a 6-1 run of their own to take a two-set advantage.
Another strong for the Pirates (17-9) helped the hosts control things in the third set. This time, the Pirates would not see any type of run by the Owls as the hosts quickly closed the match out in just over an hour.
As for Saturday's opponent -- the Pasadena City College -- this will be the second trip to Costa Mesa for the Lancers, who suffered one of their four losses of the year at the Peterson Gym. On September, 13, Coast topped PCC, 25-13. 25-23, 25-19 behind a 23-kill performance from Riggs.
PCC opened the season 6-3 with losses to Coast, Bakersfield and Golden West, but has since ripped off 14 wins out of its last 15 matches to earn the No. 5 seed.
Players to keep an eye on for Pasadena City include Noralia To'omalatai (216 kills, 142 digs, 39 aces, 37 total blocks), Jackie Valle-Acosta (188 kills, 64 total blocks), Megan Callen (170 kills, 59 total blocks), Yanise Joseph (149 kills, 42 blocks), Viridiana Gallardo (146 kills, 26 aces), Kailey Faust (647 assists) and Jennifer Estrada (304 digs).
The winner of Saturday's match will take on the winner of L.A. Pierce/El Camino matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
