Pirates rally for five-set win over Vikings in season opener

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's volleyball team kicked off the 2025 season in style, rallying for a five-set win over Long Beach City College on Friday afternoon inside the Peterson Gym.

Sophomore slugger Nika Safavi led the Pirates in the season opener with 24 kills and six aces, while Kayla Ihrig added 13 kills. 

Coast jumped out to a solid, aggressive start against the Vikings, a team which lost just two times all year last season (24-2). With the Pirates holding on to a 10-8 advantage, A three-kill spurt from Safavi sparked an 8-2 run, putting OCC ahead, 18-10. Coast closed things out with a LBCC service error and a Safavi kill to end things at 25-17, giving Coast the opening set.

The Pirates continued to roll as they jumped out to a 21-16 advantage in the second set. Just four points away from being down in a huge 0-2 hole, Long Beach showed why they reached the state quarterfinals in 2024 and mounted an impressive rally. Led by the strong serving of Emili Muagutati'a, LBCC ripped off eight straight points, turning a five-point deficit into a set-point advantage at 24-21. Three aces from Muagutati'a spurned on that improbable rally and after an OCC point made it 24-22, LBCC's Ryleeh Tuaolo slammed home the set-winner to tied the match at a set apiece.

It was deja vu in the third set as the Pirates, this time, led 23-16 and were just TWO points away from winning the all-important third set. But once again, it was the Vikings who battled back with six straight points to even the set at 23. A pair of Tyreana Allen kills and a couple of OCC hitting errors sparked the rally. An Ihrig kill off of a LBCC block gave Coast a set-point opportunity, but back-to-back kills by Tuaolo and an OCC error allowed the Vikings to steal the third set and carry all the momentum into the fourth.

That momentum was shortlived, however, as the Pirates pulled away from Long Beach in the fourth set with a 10-1 run to cruise to a 25-11 win, forcing a winner-take-all, 15-point, fifth set.

Both teams had early leads before a pair of Safavi kills broke a 7-7 tie and gave Coast a 9-7 advantage. Tuaolo responded with a kill for Long Beach, but after that, the Pirates pulled away late and would not allow any further late-set heroics from the Vikings the rest of the night.

Key aces from Sophie Vienna and another pair of Safavi kills sparked OCC's 6-0 run to the finish line as the Pirates found a way to win the season opener.

Coast will return to action on Wednesday inside the Peterson Gym against Citrus College, beginning at 6 p.m.