Gauchos end 19-year drought

The Saddleback women's volleyball team has been working the sports information department at an irregular pace this season and on Wednesday night it turned a new page.  The Gauchos defeated Golden West College in five sets in Huntington Beach, earning the first win over the Rustlers since 1997.

The last time Saddleback defeated Golden West in women's volleyball, gas was $1.22 a gallon, "Frasier" was the top comedy series on television and most people were using AOL to surf this relatively new communication technology called the world wide web.

On Wednesday in Huntington Beach, the Gauchos turned the tables on the Rustlers by winning in five sets 18-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-18 and 15-12.  The irony is, the last time they defeated Golden West was also a five set marathon with the Gauchos winning 15-12 in the final set.

"I'm proud of the way the ladies hung in there," head coach Brian Hughes said.  "They were down 2-0 and they were determined to keep their winning streak alive against a program with a long history of winning."

Saddleback now stands alone in second place in the Orange Empire Conference, two games back of first place Cypress College and one game in front of Golden West.  The last time the Gauchos finished that high in the standings was in 1998 when they were 12-2 in OEC play and lost to Golden West in the state championship under (then) second year coach Kim Lester.

Saddleback is now 11-6 overall and 7-2 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Gauchos are 11-2 against programs from California after opening the season out-of-state against NJCAA programs in Nevada.  Saddleback was ranked No. 23 in the state this past week by the coaches association, one spot behind Golden West.

Saddleback has now won eight straight matches and will try to knock off the top team in the conference on Friday when they host Cypress College.  Saddleback lost in three sets at Cypress on September 21, which was their last loss of the season.  Match time is scheduled for 6:00 PM in the gymnasium.