Coast opens conference play with four-set win over Hornets

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College women's volleyball team got Orange Empire Conference play off on the right foot with a four-set win over visiting Fullerton College on Friday night inside the Peterson Gym.

The Pirate offense was greatly supplied by the freshman trio of Brisa Zapata-Reaves (17 kills), Summer Hanks (15 kills) and Paige Cutright (eight kills), while setters Ellie Winter and Amanda Cueva combined for 41 assists.

For the Hornets, Faith Webb led the way with 11 kills, followed by Hannah Wilmes with seven kills and McKenna Mokry with six. 

It was no contest in the opening set as OCC (8-0, 1-0 in OEC) used some strong serves by Zapata-Reaves and Kylie Terakawa and three big kills up front by Cutwright to jump out to a 17-4 lead. Fullerton improved play as the set went on, but it was all OCC in the opener.

The second set was a carbon copy of the first set as the Pirates jumped out to an 11-4 advantage, but the Hornets responded in a big way with a 15-3 run to take a 19-14 lead. The OCC deficit went to six at 21-15 before a quick 4-0 run by the Pirates pulled the hosts to within a pair at 21-19.

On the next serve, Coast picked up the dig and had an opportunity to get to within one but a kill attempt sailed wide, padding the Fullerton advantage back to three. After an Alexis Zander block made it 23-19 for the Hornets, another mini-run by Coast pulled OCC to within a point at 23-22, forcing the Hornets into a timeout. Fullerton kept its composure and used a kill by Webb and a wide OCC return to end the set and even the match at 1-1.

In the all-important third set, both teams went back and forth with the lead, with Fullerton holding a 20-19 advantage late in the set. A long FC serve and a block by Zapata-Reaves and Zajec put OCC back out in front, 21-20.

From there, both teams traded points before Coast closed out a 22-22 tie with three straight points, highlighted by a Zapata-Reaves kill, ace and a duo block from Zajec and Hanks to give OCC the 25-22 win.

With the momentum on the side of the Pirates, OCC ran away from the Hornets in the fourth set, leading by 19-7 and never looking back. 

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday at Santa Ana College, beginning at 6 p.m. OCC's next home match will be on Friday against Santiago Canyon College, also at 6 p.m.