Pirates fall in regular-season finale to Chargers
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cypress (,) | 25 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
Orange Coast (,) | 20 | 25 | 21 | 18 | 1 |
COSTA MESA -- After 19 matches, hundreds of points and countless hours in the gym, it all comes down to a "waiting game" for the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team.
The Pirates wrapped up the regular season portion of the 2013 season with a four-set loss to visiting Cypress on Wednesday, ending their record at 12-7 overall, 7-7 in the always-tough Orange Empire Conference.
Will that be enough to get Coast back to the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season? Tune in on Saturday when the playoff seedings are announced.
Sierra Brown led the Pirates with 17 kills, while Kellie Kleszcz added 12. Libero Carina Perez came up with 25 digs and setter Megan Ritchie dished out 46 assists.
For the Chargers (16-7, 10-4), the balanced attack of Mya Shannon (16 kills), Kiki Atuatasi (14 kills), Ani Green (11 kills) and Demillia Foster (10 kills) sparked the guests to victory. Setter Allyson Dekruyf distributed 52 assists, while Holly Webster anchored the defense with 12 digs.
After dropping the first set, the Pirates looked to regroup and they did just that. Coast fell behind 10-8 before using a 7-2 run to take a 15-12 advantage A kill by Kleszcz and a double-block by Ritchie and Kleszcz helped put Coast back out in front. From there, both teams traded blows, which suited the Pirates just fine, since they were ahead. Finally a pair of kills by Brown and single put-aways by Kleszcz and Angelique Scarantino helped even the match at a set apiece.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, that would the end of the momentum on the home side of the court as the Chargers regrouped and grabbed control early of the next two sets to regain the lead in the match. Cypress led 18-12 in the third set and cruised from there and in the fourth set, the Chargers jumped out to a 10-3 advantage and never looked back.
