Orange Coast rallies past Vaqueros in Regional opener

After trailing for most of the night, Orange Coast took control with a 17-3 run in the third set and went on to upset SBCC 3-2 in the opening round of the Southern Cal Regional women's volleyball playoffs. The scores were 17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12.

The No. 7-seeded Vaqueros, champions of the WSC North, finish their year at 20-6. No. 10 Orange Coast -- which tied for fourth in California's toughest conference, the Orange Empire – improves to 15-6.

The loss snapped the Vaqueros' five-game win streak and was just their second setback in the last 18 matches.

SBCC lost a key player, outside hitter Kaitlyn Clemann, to an injury early in the first set after taking an 8-6 lead. Makinna Malady replaced her and had an outstanding match with 16 kills and a .313 hitting percentage.

"We lost a major player early in the match and that took a toll on us," said coach Ed Gover. "They play in the Orange Empire Conference and they play four teams that are in the State playoffs constantly in their league. You have to give them credit, they won't bend and they won't break.

"They played hard at the end and made us make plays. We didn't make those key little plays that we needed. I thought Makinna came in and did a fabulous job."

Katelynn Womack had 14 kills, 17 digs and three aces for the Vaqueros and Taylor Badois pounded 14 kills. Eryn Young, Tristen Thompson and Sydney Kantor all posted season highs in digs with 25, 20 and 19, respectively.

A Womack kill gave the Vaqueros a 9-6 lead in the fifth set. Then she served in the net and the Pirates went on a 6-0 run.

"That fifth game goes so fast and when you're up 8-5 and 9-6, a missed serve can really turn the tide," said Gover. "It's just part of the game and we didn't respond after that."

Sophomore setter Madelon Leiphardt, the WSC North Player of the Year, had a season-high 55 assists and 16 digs.

The Vaqueros broke open a tight first set with a 6-3 run, capped by an ace from Jane Petricka, that boosted the lead to 20-15. Paige Sabin ended the set with a kill off the block and a block of her own.

SBCC dominated the second set, jumping out to leads of 12-2 and 18-11. The Vaqueros built an early 10-4 lead in the third set on a back-row kill by Thompson and extended it to 13-6 on a kill by Malady. But Kerrigan Hecht produced a kill and Danielle Boyette followed with an ace, igniting the 17-3 run that turned the match around.

That gave the visitors a 23-16 lead. They had set point at 24-17 before the Vaqueros reeled off six straight to pull within a point at 24-23. Left-hander Kellie Kleszcz ended the set with a kill off the block.

The Pirates jumped ahead 6-1 and 10-5 in the fourth set but the Vaqueros rallied to within a point at 12-11. OCC regained the upper hand with a 9-5 burst that stretched the lead to 21-16.
 
"We battled the best we could," said Gover. "Yes, we made some errors but you have to credit their libero (Carina Perez), she was really good tonight.

"They changed the rhythm of the game with their serving. We knew it was going to come. When they started to serve short, that caused our passing to change a little bit and put more pressure on the passers. It took us a while to get used to it. We finally got used to it in Game 4 but it was still a tough adjustment."

The Vaqueros won the Pierce Invitational, had an 11-game win streak and captured their third straight WSC title and fifth in the last six years.

"It was a great season, we made the State playoffs and got a difficult seed," Gover noted. "We faced a seasoned, veteran team tonight. In the playoffs, you have to be ready to battle on any given night and we put up a very good fight.

"Look at the third game. We were down 24-17 and we got to within a point at 24-23. If we had got that last point, who knows what would have happened?"