“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]
0 Response to "State finals for the second straight year"
Post a Comment