By
Tony Lee
On
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Impressive showings by Orange Coast College's men's and women's water polo squads earned the Pirates a spot at the Southern California Regional Tournament at Pasadena City College, starting on Thursday (Nov. 12).
The lady Pirates, led by Brittany Daniels' five goals (right), defeated Saddleback College and the No. 1 seeded Golden West College at the Orange Empire Conference Tournament over the weekend to advance to the championship match.Unfortunately, Coast fell to Riverside Community College 9-4 to finish in second place, but the impressive OEC Tournament showing earned the lady Pirates a No. 3 seed at SoCal Regionals.Against Saddleback and Golden West, Mary Jane Cooney and Alex Garcia added a total of three goals while Jamie Bee added two.Coast, 20-9 overall this season, faces Chaffey College Friday at 2 p.m. in the first round of the playoffs.
The men's team, led by Casey Sullivan's nine goals in the OEC Tournament (left), finished one-step behind the ladies as the Pirates finished third overall.After beating Santa Ana College 18-9, the Pirates lost to Riverside 12-7 in the semifinals but bounced back to beat Saddleback for third place.This showing earned the Pirates, 19-9 overall record this season, a No. 7 seed in the SoCal Regionals and will face the 10th-seeded Saddleback Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at PCC.Against Saddleback in the OEC Tournament, Adam Smith was the team leader with three goals, while Kyle Thorsness and Adam Thomas each added two goals.
If the men's team defeat the Gauchos, then the Pirates take on the No. 2 seed Long Beach City College later that day, starting at 5:45 p.m.[Photos courtesy of Hank Schellingerhout]
By
Tony Lee
On
Friday, October 02, 2009
While most students enjoy the weekend, four Orange Coast College athletics program will be hard at work.The men's and women's cross country teams will be at the Foothill Invitational in Chino's Prado Park, starting at 9 a.m.Pick up the Sept. 30 issue of the Coast Report to read about the cross country teams' performances this year. The "Sports Roundup" is not available online.The women's water polo team will be on its second day in the Cuesta Tournament. Despite a 8-19 record last year (2-4 in conference), the lady Pirates are optimistic about this season because of its sophomore returners. The Pirates football take its perfect 4-0 record and opens the Orange Empire Conference play at Fullerton College, starting at 6 p.m.Last year, the Pirates started off 4-0 but lost six-straight to finish 4-6.Head coach Mike Taylor said, "(Quarterback Kyle Manning's) got to get a little better for us to have an opportunity. (Opponents) are going to load up with nine guys in the box to stop Ray Holley."
Holley leads the Pirates in rushing yards and touchdowns - 177 yards per game and 8 TDs - and is the No. 1 ranked tailback in the state.
By
Tony Lee
On
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
The lady Pirates are off to a good start by defeating Glendale College 25-5, 25-18 and 25-13 in its home and season opener today (Sept. 9) at the Peterson Gym.
Chuck Cutenese is the head women's volleyball coach at OCC and is in his 18th season.
Which team are you guys? The one that won by 20, 7 or 12?I think one of our strengths is that there are a lot of sophomores and they're really familiar. We're going surprise a lot of teams and that's what we did in the first game. But they were a little bit nervous, they settled down, we got a little complacent and the third game we picked it up; so right now, we're all three of those teams. Our goal is to be that first team - real focused and well disciplined.Name one thing you guys did good and one thing you guys did bad.I thought we served really well and I thought we need to tip and roll-shot better. It looks like you designed a lot of plays for Briana Fields. Is that a fair indication of how the season will go?Well it's not just Bri, but Bri's very explosive and jumps fast and quick. She's someone we gave the ball to a lot last year so no surprise we're doing that. We are much more evenly divided this year than last year. The rule of thumb is to set whoever has the hot hand. (Fields) was putting the ball away early so we kept giving her the ball.You've said the net work needs work for the team but it looks like the team played well in that aspect today.(Glendale) was setting up (No.) 2 and 11 a lot so it gave us more time to just key in on that. We weren't really challenged in that respect but we got some things at the net we need to work on.
By
Tony Lee
On
Friday, July 03, 2009
The women’s water polo team looks to improve on last season by depending on its sophomore returners – including last season’s first-team, All-Orange Empire Conference player Amanda Simons. “Individual sports can be freshmen dominated to have success but a sport like water polo you need that team cohesion so you need returning players to understand the system and values of the program,” head coach Anthony Iacopetti said. He added the women’s water polo had the school’s highest team GPA last year with a 3.26.
“All of our returners from last year are working very hard. I think there are seven returning sophomores and they’ve participated in swim season,” Iacopetti said. “They have been doing the work in the offseason to get better so we’re really looking for them to lead us and advance the culture of the program."
[Photo by Hank Schellingerhout]
The lady Pirates, led by Brittany Daniels' five goals (right), defeated Saddleback College and the No. 1 seeded Golden West College at the Orange Empire Conference Tournament over the weekend to advance to the championship match.
The men's team, led by Casey Sullivan's nine goals in the OEC Tournament (left), finished one-step behind the ladies as the Pirates finished third overall.
