Pirates in driver's seat after sweep over Bobcats

COSTA MESA -- In golf lingo, Nika Safavi let the big dog eat on Wednesday as the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team showed its power en route to a three-set sweep over Saddleback in a battle for first place for the Orange Empire Conference.

With the win, the state's lone undefeated team -- the Pirates (16-0, 8-0 in the OEC) -- have put a stranglehold on the top spot in the OEC, carrying a two-match lead over the Bobcats (10-4, 6-2), Golden West (10-3, 6-2) and Irvine Valley (6-7, 6-2) through the first round of conference play. 

The offensive firepower for the Pirates was all over the court and it was very loud as Safavi paced the offense with 20 kills, most coming in a speed not seen around these parts in quite some time. Kayla Ihrig also was noisy and successful with her swings, knocking down 15 kills, while middle blocker Joey Payan added a strong arm up front with eight kills. 

Sophie Vienna dished out 47 assists for the Pirates, while libero Kennedy Cutler anchored the defense with 15 digs.

Sadie Holmes -- Saddleback's talented 6-foot-2 middle blocker -- started off strong for the Bobcats, but finished with only eight kills as the Pirate defense found a way to limit her production down the stretch.

A strong start by Holmes (two kills, two blocks) enabled the Bobcats to come out fast in the opening set, grabbing an 8-4 advantage.

But the Pirates found their groove and it came in the form of strong serves from Emeri Lane and big swings from the Pirate sluggers of Safavi and Ihrig, who sparked a 16-6 run to propel OCC into a comfortable 20-14 advantage.

The Bobcats did their best to claw back into the set, using a 9-4 run to get to within a point at 24-23. But Safavi came up with the clutch kill for the final point, putting the Pirates up 1-0 in the match.

That win gave Coast the momentum and Safavi, Ihrig and the rest of the Pirate squad would not allow the Bobcats back into the contest the rest of the evening.

In the second set, OCC grabbed an early 7-2 lead. Saddleback used back-to-back points to make it 7-4, only to see Ihrig rip four kills over a 10-4 run, putting the Pirates up big for good.

To start the third set, setter Sophie Vienna used a pair of early aces to give OCC seven of the first eight points, and the Bobcats could not get back into shouting distance of the Pirates the rest of the night.

OCC will return to action on Friday at Fullerton College (6 p.m.) before returning to the Peterson Gym on Wednesday against Santa Ana College (6 p.m.).