Pirates take pair off of Gauchos
MISSION VIEJO -- The Orange Coast College beach volleyball team wrapped up the shortened 2021 regular season with some much-needed momentum after dispatching Saddleback twice on Friday with a pair of 5-0 wins over the host Gauchos.
In the morning session, the Pirates received little push-back as all five matches ended with convincing OCC victories. At No. 1, the team of Thea Snider/Summer Hanks cruised to a 21-6, 21-8 win, while at No. 2, Alanna Shields/Sara Enright rolled, 21-4, 21-8 at No. 2.
Rachael Street/Haley Reid kept the winning going for the Pirates at No. 3 with a 21-13, 21-8 win, while at No. 4, the duo of Preslee Richelieu/Amanda Schuler prevailed, 21-9, 21-8. The No. 5 match was defaulted to the Pirates.
In the afternoon matchup, it was more of the same for Coast, with wins posted by the teams of Shields/Wright (21-4, 21-5), Joceline Martinez/Lexy Mendoza (21-7, 21-2), Street/Emily Payne (21-3, 21-5) and Alyssa Linnell/Makena Zajec (21-9, 21-18). Default win for the Pirates again at No. 5.
"We finished 5-3 in conference and we're excited about moving forward to the conference tournament," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. "Even though the conference was without some teams, it felt great to be back on the sand competing again. It brought some normalcy to a year filled with Zooms, outdoor conditioning, indoor scrimmages being canceled and just so much uncertainty. This beach season gave everyone hope that we can get back to normal."
