Pirates stop IVC's streak with a 3-2 win over Lasers
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College beach volleyball team knocked off one of the big dogs on the block with a 3-2 Orange Empire Conference win over rival Irvine Valley College on Friday at the Newland Volleyball Courts.
Just how has it been since the Pirates topped the Lasers in beach volleyball? OCC has to back to March 31, 2017 for its last conference win against IVC ... a span of 1,531 days. It was also the first loss to a two-year school for Irvine Valley since April 21, 2017 (a 3-2 loss to Cypress).
In the first two matches of the morning, Brisa Zapata-Reaves/Rachel Blair started things off with a convincing 21-14, 21-12 win over Jolie Rasmussen/Chloe Swanson. While that was going on, the OCC No. 4 duo of Jadyn Pope/Rachel Street hung on for a 21-14, 21-18 win over IVC's Natalee Gray/Gabi Brown.
Leading 2-0 in the matches, the next three contests got underway and the Pirates grabbed the opening set in all three. In the end, the Pirates' No. 5 duo of Izzy Duchaine and Emily Payne pulled away late in the second set and gave Coast the team win with a 21-18, 21-13 triumph over Alexandra Pestolis/Sevilla Leuteneker.
That win proved to be pivotal because the Lasers pulled out victories in the other two matches, but Coast had enough gas in the tank for this impressive win over the powerhouse Lasers.
Coast will return to action on Friday at Riverside City College (10 a.m.) before returning to the Newland Courts on Friday, March 25 against Saddleback (10 a.m.).
