Women's volleyball team loses in five at OCC
Oct 17, 2009
After winning the first two games, the Irvine Valley women's volleyball team dropped three straight and lost its first match of the season - in five games to Orange Coast in Costa Mesa on Friday night.
The Pirates won the Orange Empire Conference contest, 20-25, 21-25, 25-11, 25-14, 15-9.
Poerava Gantt led the way for OCC with a season-high 30 kills, while Briana Fields added 18 kills and Karlee Skalla contributed 11.
"Our team began to show confidence in themselves and after we got some momentum, we didn't let it go," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. "We weren't playing well early, but we were still hanging with them (IVC) so in Game 3, we came out fighting and didn't stop until the finish."
Nikki Osuna anchored the OCC defense with 25 digs, while Rachel Freeno added 12. Freshman setter Kimya Jafroudi dished out 57 assists.
Early on, it looked like a quick night for the eighth-ranked Pirates (10-1, 4-1) as fourth-ranked IVC (8-1, 4-1) used a late run in the first game and an early run in game two to grab control of the match.
The rest of the way, it was all Pirates. With Gantt and Skalla finding their hitting zones, the Pirates buried the Lasers in game three, jumping out to a 21-8 lead before cruising to victory.
In the fourth game, OCC led, 13-10, but used a 9-1 run, sparked by a pair of Alex Mainini blocks and kills from Skalla, Fields and Freeno, to grab control of the game and even the match at two games apiece.
Orange Coast jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fifth and final game and never looked back. From the start of game three, the Pirates out-scored the Lasers, 65-34.
Caitlin Segert led the Lasers with 12 kills. Hillary Crone added 11 kills and Katie Wilkerson had nine kills. IVC hit just .143 as a team in the match.