Pair of Pirates moving on
COSTA MESA -- A pair of standout players from the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team will be taking their athletic and academic talents to the four-year level, according to head coach Chuck Cutenese.
Kiana Nicio, a sophomore libero on the 2013 Pirates, will stay local and attend Vanguard University. Nicio attended UC Riverside before coming to Coast and in her one season with the Pirates, she notched 271 digs in shared libero duties with freshman Carina Perez, who notched 349 digs. Five times during the 2013 season, Nicio topped the 20-dig mark, including a career-high 29 against Riverside City College on Oct. 16.
Joining Nicio on the "Alumni" section of the Pirate history book is 5-foot-3 sophomore outside hitter Dana Nicholson, who played for the Pirates for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Nicholson will be moving on to play at Hope International University in the fall.
Nicholson earned first-team, All-Orange Empire Conference honors as a freshman in 2012 when she notched 126 kills, 21 assists, 22 aces, 175 digs and 10 blocks for the Pirates. That year, she totalled 31 digs in a match against Fullerton on Oct. 24 -- seventh-best for one match in school history.
Nicholson followed that year up with 85 kills, 27 assists, nine aces, 171 digs and four blocks for Coast in 2013, giving her 211 kills, 48 assists, 31 aces, 346 digs and 14 blocks for her two-year career.
