Pirates fight hard, but come up short to Chargers

COSTA MESA -- In a battle of two of the top teams in the state, it was a back-and-forth battle between Orange Coast College and Cypress College in an epic women's volleyball matchup on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

The 20th-ranked Pirates were just a few fortunate bounces away from a solid upset over the fifth-ranked Chargers, but in the end, Cypress prevailed, 25-23, 18-25, 26-24, 25-17, to remain alone in first place atop the Orange Empire Conference standings.

Brisa Zapata-Reaves led the Pirates (12-2, 5-2 in the OEC) with 11 kills and two blocks, while Summer Hanks (four blocks) and Sara Enright each added 10 kills. 

For the Chargers (16-1, 8-0), Tainea Allen led the way with 14 kills, wile Rachel Gonzales added 11 kills and Alli Arriolla knocked down 10.

Coast jumped out of the gates strong and grabbed a 7-3 lead in the opening set before Cypress found its groove and used an 8-2 run to lead, 11-9. Coast regained the advantage and led 20-18 late in the set before Cypress used kills from four different hitters to take a 22-21 lead.

Kills by Faith Jones and a jump-ball winner by Enright put OCC back in front 23-22 and the Pirates were just two points from grabbing the early advantage in the match.

But a kill by Vanila Pulo-Suliafu, a long OCC return and a Allen putaway allowed the Chargers to slip past the Pirates in the opening set.

Coast trailed 15-12 in the second set before some strong serves from libero Emily Payne helped set up a pivotal 7-0 run to give OCC the lead for good. A Payne ace and four big kills from Enright turned that deficit into a 19-15 advantage. Cypress countered with back-to-back points to get to within a pair at 19-17 before Coast wrapped things up with a 6-1 run to even the match at a set apiece. Three kills from Hanks during that final outburst helped give Coast come momentum heading into the all-important third set.

That momentum pushed OCC into a 16-11 advantage in the third set and thoughts of an upset were in the works. But the Chargers quickly erased that advantage with a 9-2 run to grab a 20-18 lead. Coast used a pair of unforced errors by the Chargers to even things at 20, but Allen took over late in the set with a kill and an assisted block to push the Chargers to three set-point opportunities at 24-21.

But Coast refused to go away. A kill by Zapata-Reaves, a wide return by Cypress and a putaway by Cutwright tied things up at 24, forcing the Chargers into a timeout. The break paid off as an OCC net violation and a quick kill by Pulu-Suliafu gave the Chargers the all-important third-set win.

It was another back-and-forth battle in the fourth set. But, with the set tied at 16, Cypress pulled away for good with a 7-0 run and closed things out three plays later.

OCC will return to action on Friday at home against Saddleback, beginning at 6 p.m.