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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
“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]
