Ray Holly etched his name into the record books

Posted by Tony Lee - Nov. 18

Coast's running back Ray Holley broke the all-time single season rushing record at OCC Saturday (Nov. 14) when he rushed for 266 yards with five touchdowns against Long Beach City College. See all the entire game summary and how Holley got the record.

Fastest of them all

Posted by Tony Lee - Oct. 31

Orange Coast College's cross country teams proved Friday (Oct. 30) that both men's and women's squads are the team to beat for the 2009 state championship. At the Orange Empire Conference Cross Country Tournament in Huntington Beach's Central Park, Coast finished first in the men's five-mile run and the women's 5K run in a convincing fashion. See how the runners finished.

Where are the champs?

Posted by Tony Lee - Oct. 25

The defending Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year, Brett Wallach, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, leads the pack key players on the 2009 state champion baseball team have moved onto different locations. See where they moved to since then.

What loss to Golden West?

Posted by Tony Lee - Oct. 25

After the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season, the lady Pirates have won five-straight games - the latest on Friday (Oct. 23) against Santa Ana College. See how the lady Pirates have bounced back.

Meet a Pirate: Danny Orona

Posted by Tony Lee - Sept. 20

Danny Orona is a 5 foot 6 inch, 160 pound driver from Los Amigos High School who starts on the men's water polo team. “Last year, he really didn't get much playing time but he kept working in practice every single day,” head coach Monty McCord said. "He makes things happen when he's in there. He's a great defensive player (and) he's willing to do a lot of the dirty work not everyone is willing to do." See how he answered the questions.

Victory Bell stays at Coast

Posted by Tony Lee - Sept. 20

For the first time in the West-Coast Showdown history, the Pirates have won the Victory Bell three years in a row. In a dramatic 24-21 victory, Coast (3-0) defeated the Golden West College Rustlers (0-3) to even up the all-time series at 20-20-2. See the last-second dramatics of the game with pictures and quotes from players and coaches.

Meet a Pirate(s): Rebecca Murray and Melissa Mahi

Posted by Tony Lee - Sept. 11

The women's basketball coaching staff have picked their captains for the 2009-2010 season. Rebecca Murray (left) and Melissa Mahi (right) are sophomore returners. See how they answered the questions from the hat.

Lady Pirates hands Mt. San Jacinto its first loss

By Tony Lee On Friday, December 11, 2009 0 comments
Orange Coast College's women's basketball team, fresh off a buzzer-beating, tournament winning shot at the 26th-Annual Conoco-Phillips Tournament, played at Cuesta College, adds one more heartbreaking loss to another team's standings.

According to OCC's Sports Information Director Tony Altobelli, the lady Pirates (8-3) "led most of the first half and carried a 41-31 lead one minute into the second half before the (Mt. San Jacinto) Eagles (7-1) found their spark and ripped off 12 straight points, forcing the Pirates into a pair of timeouts.

"Both teams traded baskets and the lead for the next few minutes before the Pirates responded with a game-changing 13-0 run, highlighted by eight points from Michelle Lewis (pictured) and a pair of buckets from (Samantha) Hansen, giving Coast a 64-52 lead with 6:40 left."

Coast's Amanda Deal led the lady Pirates once again with 11 and 10 apiece from Danielle Keneipp and Hansen.

Click here to read full game summary by Altobelli.

OCC returns to action on Friday in the opening round of the Coast Christmas Classic against El Camino, beginning at 7 p.m.

[Photo courtesy of Justin Yamasaki]
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Secret to volleyball's success

By Tony Lee On Friday, December 11, 2009 0 comments
Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team understands the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” a bit too well from doing “boards” at their practices.

“It’s where you push this wooden block with carpet around it, push it with your hands and run across the floor,” said sophomore libero Nikki Osuna on Nov. 26 after beating Moorpark College in five sets. “We do those every day and I feel like we hate them so much, but they’ve made us so much better. Our stamina is insane that we can go for games like this and play the way we do.”

Head coach Chuck Cutenese said that ever since he became a coach, he’s incorporated using boards into his programs.

“It’s a lower body workout and you feel it in the back of your legs,” he said. “When I played at Chapman University, I hated them. They were the worst. But our coach kept saying it’s going to make you better.”

Though many of the Coast players agree that doing boards is painful, all of them recognize the benefits of pushing a two-by-four wooden block with carpet on it.

“Yeah they are tiring and yeah they made you want to throw up, but in the long run, we were probably in better shape than all the other teams,” sophomore middle blocker Briana Fields (pictured) said, “because of our hard work and boards we did everyday.”

But boards were also a used as a form of punishment.

“I set the record last year for 29 boards in a row because I was late for practice,” sophomore outside hitter Rachel Freeno said. “I’m like the queen of boards, but everyone hates them.”

Besides the increased strength and stamina, Freeno said that boards have contributed a big part to why the lady Pirates are such a cohesive group.

“Personally, I think it’s bringing us closer,” she said, “because everybody dreads doing boards so it’s pushing us as a team.”

Click here to read "Lady Pirates on top again" article on the team winning its third state title in the last five years.

[Photo courtesy of Hank Schellingerhout]
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Lady Pirates are No. 1

By Tony Lee On Sunday, December 06, 2009 0 comments
The lady Pirates volleyball team got off to a bad start by losing its first game at the California Community College Athletic Association state championship.

But Orange Coast College won the next 12 out of 13 sets to make it to the finals today (Dec. 6) against Orange Empire Conference rivals Cypress College.

Despite losing to the Chargers in their last meeting, the lady Pirates won the first set of games, 3-1, and then beat Cypress again in the sudden death, first-to-25 point set, to claim the state championship.

Tournament MVP was freshman setter Kimya Jafroudi.

More information will follow soon.

[Photo courtesy of Nikki Osuna]
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Back to the Final Four

By Tony Lee On Sunday, December 06, 2009 0 comments
Karlee Skalla (pictured) tallied 13 kills and four blocks for the Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team in a 25-21, 25-12, 25-14 win against Sierra College Saturday (Dec. 5) in the California Community College Athletic Association state championships at San Joaquin Delta College.

The No. 1 seeded lady Pirates (23-3) lost to the No. 4 seed Sierra in the opening round of the tournament and since then has played in the loser's bracket.

“We underestimated our first opponent Sierra and it cost us," head coach Chuck Cutenese said in a press release on coasports.org. "We have six players who were there at the state tournament last year and we haven’t learned. Other teams are not going to play dead for us. We let up in the third game vs. Delta and lost a game we shouldn’t have there. It’s disappointing."

Prior to the rematch against Sierra, Coast began Saturday with a 25-23, 25-14, 25-21 win over Sacramento City College, the No. 1 ranked team in the state.

Poe Gantt led OCC with 10 kills, while Rachel Freeno had nine kills. Nikki Osuna led the Pirates with 22 digs.

Against Sierra, Freeno led Coast with 17 digs, Gantt had 12 kills and Briana Fields added nine kills with a .533 hitting percentage.

Skalla recorded a .480 hitting percentage in that contest.

OCC will play against Irvine Valley College at 10 a.m. in the semifinal today. The winner will play against Cypress College, who is undefeated at the state tournament, in the final.

In the lady Pirates' last match against IVC on Nov. 11, Coast won in five sets 19‐25, 25‐17, 25‐18, 22‐25, 15‐8.

The last match against Cypress, on Nov. 4, resulted in a 25‐13, 22‐25, 25‐23, 19‐25, 15‐13 loss.

[Photo courtesy of Hank Schellingerhout]
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Another record-breaker on Coast volleyball

By Tony Lee On Sunday, December 06, 2009 0 comments
Orange Coast College's freshman setter Kimya Jafroudi (pictured) set a school Final 8 record against San Joaquin Delta Friday (Dec. 5) with her 64 assists at the California Community College Athletic Association state championships.

She also racked-up 64 assists in only four sets.

The lady Pirates won that game 21-25, 22-25, 26-24, 18-25.

Congratulations Kimya.

Click here to see her Pirate of the Week article.

[Photo courtesy of Hank Schellingerhout]
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Split at state championships

By Tony Lee On Saturday, December 05, 2009 0 comments
Despite the playing the No. 4 seeded Sierra College, the No. 1 seeded Orange Coast College's women's volleyball team was upset by the Wolverines Friday (Dec. 4), 25-22, 18-25, 25-20, 26-24, at the California Community College Athletic Association state championships.

In its first match in the loser's bracket, the lady Pirates (21-3) eliminated San Joaquin Delta College 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18 to stay alive in the tournament.

Coast will play the loser of today's morning match at 1 p.m. and win another game after that to stay alive in the tournament. Coast will also need to win at least twice Sunday to claim the program's third state title in the last five seasons.

Freshman setter Kimya Jafroudi had 64 assists against Delta, Poe Gantt had 26 kills and Nikki Osuna had 20 digs.

Against Sierra, Gantt led the lady Pirates with 19 kills and Osuna had 18 digs.

That 18 digs set the single-season record for digs, previously held by Ashlee Moon (451 in 2006), and Osuna now has 473 heading into today.
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Deal me in

By Tony Lee On Saturday, December 05, 2009 0 comments
Freshman Amanda Deal (pictured) scored a career-high 25 points on Friday to defeat Allan Hancock College 71-67 at the semifinals of the Cuesta College Tournament.

Deal had five three-pointers and scored 16 of her 25 points in the second half to help the lady Pirates (6-3) advance to today's title game at 4 p.m.

Coast's Samantha Hansen added 11 points in the contest.

[Photo courtesy of Justin Yamasaki]
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Opportunity to play at a $3 million stadium

By Tony Lee On Wednesday, December 02, 2009 0 comments
Right next to the Adams Avenue, a brand-new softball field is being built for the start of the 2010 spring season for Orange Coast College's softball team.

Head softball coach Ruby Rojas said she will have open tryouts for OCC students who are interested in suiting up for the lady Pirates next season.

"I will be holding tryouts January 5th at 1 p.m. and I am looking for eligible student athletes to come out for the 2010 season," Rojas said. "Especially since we just got a $3 million stadium."

Rojas is a 2008 Beijing Olympian athlete and batted cleanup for the Venezuelan national team. She also competed in the Canada Cup over the summer and led Venezuela to a third place finish.

To read a feature story about Rojas, click here. To read a feature story on some of the 2010 recruits, click here.

[Artist rendering courtesy of Orange Coast College]
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Make it rain

By Tony Lee On Wednesday, December 02, 2009 0 comments
Head coach Mike Thornton said the Orange Coast College lady Pirates have been playing stressed out at the start of the season.

His goal at the third place game of the Santa Ana College Thanksgiving Tournament was for his players to be stress-free and relax on offense. The lady Pirates (4-3) did just that and responded with making a season-high 12 three pointers on Sunday (Nov. 29) to defeat Solano College, 81-50, at the Cook Gym.

"I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and have been a bit demanding," Thornton said. "Our goal today was to come out relaxed on offense and I think we did that today."

Sophomore Jenna Lujan (pictured), who led the team with 16 points and eight rebounds Sunday, was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Thornton said that he asked Lujan to be more assertive on offense this season and this was the first time she did that this season.

"Coach has been talking about being more offensive minded - and not just defensive," Lujan said. "I'm still looking for my players, but firstly, looking for my layups and finishing strong."

Thornton was also impressed by her defense - especially against San Bernardino Valley College on Saturday.

"I think she had only nine points but took four charges," he said. "I think that's the most charges anyone has taken at Coast in a game."

Freshman Tiffany Montiero added 10 points off the bench and contributed two of the 12 three pointers on Sunday. Lujan converted three of the 12.

Coast's Sam Hansen scored nine points, Helena Robel scored eight and Alyssa Hanson and Michelle Yamasaski scored seven also.

"We have a lot of people that can play - we play about 12 people," Hanson said. "We have a lot of people rotating in-and-out, pretty quick."

Lujan also echoes that statement.

"It's cool knowing that we can all score," she said. "We don't have that one go-to-player. We can all drive, finish, make free throws so it just equals it all out."

OCC returns to action on Thursday (Dec. 3) at the Cuesta College Tournament against the College of the Redwoods, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

[Photo by Tony Lee]
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Ouch!

By Tony Lee On Wednesday, December 02, 2009 0 comments
Orange Coast College's Alyssa Hanson (No. 12) said she suffered a bloody lip early in the first half Sunday (Nov. 29) after her teammate Jenna Lujan "elbowed me in the mouth."

"Oh my gosh I feel so bad," Lujan said. "I told her she went after my rebound and she was in post territory. But I feel really bad about that."

Hanson returned to the game after getting her lip treated and finished with 7 points on 3-of-5 shooting.

"She was really sorry about it," Hanson said. "It just happens. It's OK. I'll just have a fat lip for awhile."

Also in the picture, trainer Dan Denzler on the left and teammate Bianca Carranza on the right.

[Photo by Tony Lee]
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State finals for the second straight year

By Tony Lee On Wednesday, December 02, 2009 0 comments


Orange Coast College’s head women’s volleyball coach Chuck Cutenese reminded his team about all the bleachers they’ve run and all the push ups they did prior to the final set against Moorpark College.

“All of that was for this moment right now — being in shape, to be disciplined and to be focused,” Cutenese said to the fifth-ranked lady Pirates Saturday at the Southern California Regional Playoffs.

Coast (20-2) responded to their coach’s speech by playing an errorless final game to upset the fourth-ranked Raiders (20-3), 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-8, at the Raider Pavilion and move onto the state championship for the second consecutive year.

“We’ve worked so hard for this and we were seeded lower than this team,” said sophomore libero Nikki Osuna, who led Coast with 26 digs. “We wanted to show everyone that they need to stop underestimating us.”

Osuna, who redshirted last year due to a knee injury and missed the state championship, now has 435 digs for the season and needs 17 more to break the school single-season record (451) set by Ashlee Moon in 2006.

“I started crying right at the end,” she said. “From last year, being at state and just watching it, it’s driven me so much just to want to be on the court this year.”

Coast sophomore outside hitters Poe Gantt led the lady Pirates with 16 kills with Rachel Freeno trailing behind with 15 kills in the contest.

Coast sophomore outside hitter and middle blocker Briana Fields, who finished with 13 kills, added that she doesn’t agree with their ranking.

“I personally think we’re better than our ranking,” she said, “but the good thing about being ranked low is that people underestimate you and we can come out and show them what we’ve got.”

Fields was the only lady Pirate to be selected for the 2009 All-State SoCal team. She was also one of two players from the SoCal region to be selected for the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All American first team.

“They anticipate she’s going to get the ball and (Field) is hitting against two people every time,” Cutenese said. “I think that shows how good of a player she is.”

But Cutenese said freshman setter Kimya Jafroudi, who compiled a game-high 54 assists Saturday, has gone unnoticed and is the lady Pirates’ unsung hero this season.

“They make all the decisions and she’s done a fantastic job, especially as a freshman,” Cutenese said of setters. “That’s a lot of pressure on (Jafroudi) and she’s really come through.”

Despite being ranked No. 5 at the start, Coast is now the highest-ranked team out of SoCal to make it to the state championship.

Now as the No. 1 ranked team, the lady Pirates face fourth-ranked Sierra College Wolverines Friday at the California Community Colleges Athletic Association Women’s Volleyball Championship.

The state championship is held at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif. and is a double-elimination tournament that ends on Sunday.

“I set a goal for this team and it was to get back to the state tournament,” Cutenese said. “We came up against a real strong Moorpark team — they were real physical, real aggressive — and (we) really pulled through at the end and I’m really proud of them.”

[Photos by Tony Lee]
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No Thanksgiving hangover for the lady Pirates

By Tony Lee On Friday, November 27, 2009 0 comments


The lady Pirates put their hands in the middle and yelled out "team" before the opening tip-off of the Santa Ana College Thanksgiving Tournament Friday (Nov. 27).

That word is probably the best way to describe the 2009-10 Orange Coast College women's basketball team because, according to head coach Mike Thornton, there are no superstars on the roster.

But to win, the lady Pirates do not need a No. 1 offensive option. With its top four scoring leaders only separated by four points Friday, Coast (3-2) shared the ball as a team en route to a 56-47 win over Merced College (1-4) at the Cook Gym.

"Through the first four games, we had a different leading scorer every game," Thornton said.

But Coast forward Sam Hansen, fresh off a 21 point performance in a 76-74 overtime win over Cerritos College on Nov. 18, is one of the front-runners to be that No. 1 scoring option.

Hansen scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting (4-of-4 on free throws) Friday to become the lady Pirates' first back-to-back scoring leader this season.

"When I'm in, I'm going to give it my all," she said.

Hansen also had a team-high four steals in the contest and was a big part of Coast's full-court defensive press that resulted in 20 first half Merced turnovers.

Because of that, the lady Pirates closed the first half on a 7-0 run and carried over the momentum at the start of the second half with an 8-1 run to give themselves a 15 point cushion with 14 minutes left in the game.

"We practiced that a lot," Hansen said of the full court press defense. "We just want to execute that to give ourselves more chances for baskets."

Coast freshman Amanda Deal, who scored 11 points on 2-of-2 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, added that because no one is a No. 1 offensive option, their team unity shows on both sides of the court.

"We're always working hard (and) I can count on any girl at any time when we're playing," she said. "We all just want to win and it shows."

The other top scorers for Coast were sophomore Jenna Lujan, who also led the lady Pirates with two blocks and four assists, and freshman Tiffany Monteiro (2-of-4 on three pointers) with eight points.

"We have to work really hard together," Hansen said. "We win as a team, we lose as a team."

Coast will play against San Bernardino Valley College Saturday (Nov. 28) in the second round of the tournament at 5 p.m. at Cook Gym.

[Photos by Tony Lee]
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