Pirates top Ventura, Santa Barbara to advance to State Tournament

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Orange Coast College beach volleyball team punched its first-ever team ticket to the state finals after topping Ventura (5-0) and Santa Barbara (3-2) at Tuesday's Southern California Team Regionals on the Newland Street Volleyball Courts.

It was quite fitting the Pirates (16-0) needed the entire team to pull off this team accomplishment, which speaks volumes to the depth and talent of this squad. 

With the contest tied at two matches apiece, it all came down to the No. 4 match between OCC's Lexy Mendoza/Paige Cutwright vs. SBCC's Irey Therese Sandholt/Karoline Ruiz, with the rest of both teams and fans surrounding the court.

Coast took the opening set, 21-13 before dropping the second set, 21-8, forcing a winner-take-all third set, with the winner advancing to next week's CCCAA Beach Volleyball State Championship.

OCC held a slim lead throughout the deciding set, but Mendoza came up with the key passes and Cutwright came through with the key kills to keep the Pirates in front. Leading 12-10, Cutwright put the ball way to make it 13-10 and after a Vaquero point cut the deficit back down to two, Cutwright again slammed home a winner to make it 14-11, setting up match point.

A Cutwright serve floated into a steady breeze that was passed wide, forcing a tough return attempt. That attempt was bumped into the net, giving the Pirates the win and their first-ever trip to the state finals as a team.

"It's a huge milestone for us," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said, regarding the first-ever state finals berth. "We always challenge the players to leave their mark with the program. With indoor there's more stats, but beach we're still developing stats, but we always tell them to leave their mark with the program and this is the first team to win conference and make it to state. It's an accomplishment to all twelve of them. Paige and Lexy are our most improved team. If it came down to them, I felt confident with them. They just bonded really well as pairs and they seemed to have always pulled it out when we needed it, so I was OK that it was on their shoulders."

Coast earned their other two points against the Vaqueros (13-2) courtesy of straight-set wins in the No. 2 match from Alanna Shields and Sophia Sola (21-13, 21-10) and at No. 3 with Summer Hanks/Sara Enright (21-19, 21-9).

In the morning match against Ventura (14-6), it was a far less stressful outcome for the hosts, as the OCC Pirates topped the VC Pirates, 5-0. Coast picked up straight-set wins from Shields/Sola (21-11, 21-15), Hanks/Enright (21-11, 21-13), Mendoza/Cutwright (25-23, 21-11), Rachel Blair/Brisa Zapata-Reaves (21-18, 21-13) and Izzy Duchaine/Emily Payne (22-20, 21-10).

Up next is the CCCAA State Championships, hosted by Irvine Valley, on Thursday, March 12, beginning at 9 a.m. With the championships taking place in one day, if the Pirates are to win it all, they will have to handle three matches in a grueling, all-day battle of endurance, so it will take ALL of the OCC squad to bring their "A" game to IVC. In addition to the aforementioned five pairs, the Pirate duo of Rachel Street/Jadyn Pope will look to see playing time in the biggest day of beach volleyball in team history. Depth beyond the starting five teams will be crucial for Coast to come out on top.

"They ALL need to be ready and we will need a fresh five pairs for each match," Cutenese said. "We've never been at a state finals, but we've also never been in a situation where our 5's and 6's are so equally talented. We need to make sure all will be ready to play."