Pirates sweep Bobcats, Hornets to wrap up regular season; Cutenese collects win No. 500
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
Fullerton | 11 | 15 | 21 | 0 |
FULLERTON -- It was a historic wrap-up to the regular season for head coach Chuck Cutenese and the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team as the Pirates wrapped things up on the road with victories over Saddleback on Thursday and Fullerton on Tuesday.
With Thursday's 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 win over the Bobcats, Cutenese joined an exclusive club by capturing his 500th career win, joining only a handful of coaches all time to reach such a milestone.
Against the Bobcats, Emma Honea has continued her fine end-of-season play by leading OCC with 14 kills, while Brisa Zapata-Reaves added 13 kills to go along with 11 digs.
Libero Emily Payne anchored the defense with 23 digs, while teammate Leah Thibault added 15. The setter duo of Grace Holmgren and Kylie Terakawa combined for 32 assists.
In the win over the Hornets -- No. 501 for Cutenese -- the middle blockers highlighted the night as Paige Cutwright led all hitters with 13 kills on just 17 attempts with one error for an incredible .706 hitting percentage. She also added seven total blocks. Fellow middle blocker, Natalia Brandlin, had eight kills and eight total blocks, seventh-most for one match in OCC history.
With the two road wins to wrap up the regular season, Coast (19-5, 12-4 in the Orange Empire Conference) finished alone in second place in the always-tough OEC, one match ahead of third-place Santa Ana (18-5, 11-5) and three behind conference-champ Irvine Valley (19-4, 15-1).
Postseason announcements will be made later this week. Be sure to log onto www.occpirateathletics.com for the latest playoff information as it becomes available.
