Pirates rally to top Chargers in five

COSTA MESA -- Good teams figure out ways to win ... even on nights when it's not all there. For the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team, an 0-2 hole was overcome and the Pirates survived a scare from visiting Cypress College with a five-set marathon win.

The key players for the Pirates stepped up down the stretch and they were led by the right arm of freshman outside hitter Nika Safavi, who led the way with 27 kills. Kennedy Cutler added 15 kills, while setter Jordan Packer paced the attack with 52 assists as the Pirates rallied for a 20-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-17, 15-12 Orange Empire Conference win. 

With the comeback win, OCC (20-2 overall) remains atop the conference standings with Saddleback at 12-1. The Bobcats will travel to OCC to take on the Pirates on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.

It was a spirited effort from the Chargers, who didn't look at all like the same team that Coast swept past 25-19, 25-8, 25-17 in the first round of OEC play back on Oct. 9.

Both teams battled back and forth, but it was the Chargers, led by 6-foot-6 middle blocker Zoe Ziegler to grabbed a late lead and took the opening set, 25-20.

In the second set, Cypress turned a 13-13 tie into a 19-13 advantage with kills coming from four different players. Coast forced Cypress into a late timeout with a 3-0 run to make it 19-16, but the Chargers ripped off the final six points to grab a 2-0 set lead into the match, stunning the home crowd inside the Peterson Gym.

Whatever was said between sets 2 and 3 worked for the Pirates as they came out and blazed an 18-7 run with Safavi ripping six kills during that run.

But, with some impressive serving from Cypress' Audrey Perez, the Chargers ripped off nine straight points to pull to within a pair at 18-16, forcing OCC to use both timeouts over that span.

Three crucial errors by the Chargers helped keep Coast ahead down the stretch and clutch kills by Cutler and Caprie Troccoli helped the Pirates avoid a shocking sweep and force a fourth set with a 25-20 win.

Another strong start by the Pirates in the fourth put the hosts in front 17-10. Cypress crept a little closer at 19-15, but a pair of Safavi kills, a Packer put-away and an ace by Cutler highlighted a 6-2 OCC run to cap off the fourth set and force a winner-take-all fifth set.

In the race to 15 points, Coast trailed 9-7 and was forced to take a timeout. From there, Safavi took the match over, ripping four sets during a 6-1 run to put OCC ahead, 13-10. Cypress notched back-to-back points to make it 13-12, but that would be as close as the Chargers would get. A crucial net violation by Cypress and an Abigail Brown return off of a long Charger pass ended the match and capped off the comeback win.

OCC will play at Santa Ana on Wedesday (6 p.m.) before hosting the Bobcats on Friday (6 p.m.).