After a dominant win, the Orange Coast Pirates women’s volleyball team remains undefeated against the El Camino College Warriors after a 3-0 match win.
Right off the bat, the Pirates ended the first set with a 9-25 score, setting a hard precedent to beat during the Sept 3. match at the ECC Gymnasium.
This is the second straight season the Pirates have defeated the Warriors.
Warriors coach Liz Hazell felt like ECC’s team played shy to begin the match.
“I feel like we spent a little bit of time being intimidated by them in the beginning, and we don’t want to start out that way,” Hazell said.
The Warriors, however, regained points in the second set, ending 18-25, a significant increase.
“Just a few more kills from our hitters make a huge difference. We’re getting a little bit better each game at being aggressive, hitting-wise,” Hazell said.
Warriors middle blocker Amiekal Looney took the lead in the most amount of kills on the team, with five in total throughout the three sets, accompanied by 20 total attacks.
Orange Coast College assured the victory in the third set with an 18-25 score.
The game marks the Pirates’ first shutout match win this season as the team emerges from a (24-3) record last season.
Pirates middle blocker Joey Payan praised her team about the win and how she is looking forward in the season.
“I’m just super proud of our team, and I’m super excited for the rest of the season,” Payan said.
Pirates outside hitter Anjali Clinton lead her team in kills, polishing of 12 kills and 23 total attacks.
Kayla Ihrig, an outside hitter for the Pirates, said efficiency is what the team goes for.
“We play well together and organize; we have a good energy about us this year,” Ihrig said.
Orange Coast College’s win against ECC marks an undefeated streak so far in the season, with OCC’s past competitors being Long Beach, Citrus, and Ventura College.
Orange Coast coach Chuck Cutenese said his team has a good mix of players on the roster.
“The nice thing about us is that we have 16 girls and eight are sophomores, and eight are freshmen, so we have a good combination of freshmen and sophomores… at the community college level, that’s really important to have some sophomore leadership,” Cutenese said.
Justine Sapitanan, a setter for ECC, said the team could have performed better and that their opponents affected them mentally.
Moving forward, Hazell said she wants the team to focus on defending the middle of the court.
“We dig a lot of balls, but we can’t give up the middle of the court where we have no people,” Hazell said.
Despite the loss, ECC sportsmanship remains strong and players kept a positive atmosphere throughout all sets.
Cynthia Nario, a left back player for ECC, said the team should work on communication.
“Definitely communication, and playing our part on the court, I feel like people are overplaying other people’s parts, and then it just causes chaos within the court,” Nario said.
The Warriors fall to (3-3) on the season and look to bounce back against the undefeated Santa Barbara Vaqueros (4-0) at home Friday, Sept. 5, at 5 p.m.
