Pirates' streak turns 20 with sweep over Lasers
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Irvine Valley (8-8, 8-3) | 13 | 20 | 17 | 0 |
|
Orange Coast (20-0, 12-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's volleyball team remains the lone program in the state with a zero in the loss column as the Pirates rolled to a sweep over visiting Irvine Valley on Wednesday inside the Peterson Gym.
The 1-2 punch of Nika Safavi (17 kills, 10 digs) and Kayla Ihrig (16 kills, 14 digs) propelled the state's fourth-ranked Pirates to their 20th straight win, zapping out the Lasers, 25-13, 25-20, 25-17 in an Orange Empire Conference matchup.
Adding to the Pirate offense was middle blockers Caprie Troccoli (five kills, two blocks) and Joey Payan (four kills, two solo blocks). Sophie Vienna dished out 36 assists to go along with seven digs and three aces and Kennedy Cutler added seven digs and an ace.
Coast (20-0, 12-0 in the OEC) set the tone of the night in the opening set, sprinting out to a 14-2 lead. Three kills from Ihrig, strong serving from Safavi (three aces) and a pair of blocks from Kyla Untalan spearheaded the early charge for OCC during that run.
After an early strong start in the second set, IVC put on its best run of the night, using an 11-6 run to pull even at 20-20.
But OCC regrouped and Safavi led the charge with four kills out of the next five points to give Coast a 25-20 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
From there, the Pirates never looked back, using a 16-9 start to the third set as the key to victory over the Lasers. An emphatic slam by Ihrig on match point sealed the deal for Coast.
With the win, the Pirates continue their lead atop the OEC standings, two up on Golden West (13-3, 9-2) and three up on Saddleback (12-5, 8-3) and the Lasers (8-8, 8-3) with just four matches remaining on the conference schedule.
Coast will be back at it on Friday at home against Riverside City College, beginning at 6 p.m.
