Pirates regroup, stun Vaqueros in five sets in regional playoff opener

SANTA BARBARA -- Plan B yielded straight A's for the Orange Coast College women's volleyball team as the Pirates rallied from two sets down to upset Santa Barbara City College in the opening round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Tuesday night.

After losing the first two sets -- each by the score of 25-17 -- the 10th-seeded Pirates (15-6) switched up their lineup and went on a tear, winning the final three sets, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12 to advance to the second round, where they will face No. 2 Grossmont (26-0) on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

"Things were not working with our normal lineup through the first two sets so we moved some players around and we really took over after that," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. "I'm so proud of the girls for hanging in there and for our reserve players stepping up and rising to the challenge."

Among the biggest stars of the night was sophomore Megan Rawlings, who came off of the bench and led the team with 12 kills -- all over the final three sets. Lehua Alama-Jordan, Kellie Kleszcz (eight blocks, two solo) and Danyelle Brown each chipped in nine kills, while Kerrigan Hecht chipped in eight as the offense found its way to several Pirate players.

While Coast found the other side of the floor with their shots, the seventh-seeded Vaqueros (20-4) -- champions of the Western State Conference's North Division -- kept finding their shots dug up by an array of Pirate players, most notably Carina Perez, who tallied 35 digs. Danielle Boyette came up with 17 digs to go along with her 47 assists, while Alama-Jordan added 13 and Sierra Brown notched 12.

Despite losing starting outside hitter Kaitlyn Clemann to an injury early in the first set, the Vaqueros jumped out ahead of the Pirates, while Coast struggled to find any type of success.

Down 2-0 in sets, the Pirates found themselves down 13-6 in the third before a Hecht kill and a Boyette ace helped spark a 17-3 run that turned the match completely around.

SBCC trailed 24-17 and fought all the way back to 24-23 before Kleszcz ended the set with a kill off of a block.

Coast carried that momentum into the fourth set and dominated play against the Vaqueros, never trailing the entire way. That win evened the match at two sets apiece with a race to 15 points to decide the winner.

Santa Barbara jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the fifth set, but a service error by the Vaqueros helped spark a 6-0 run, giving the Pirates a lead they would not lose the rest of the night.

Coast not only overcame a long drive and a very tough opponent, it also had to regroup after a last-minute seeding change switched up schedules for several teams, including the Pirates. Originally preparing for a trip down south to Palomar College to face the Comets, Coast learned less than 24 hours before the start of Tuesday's match that it would be playing in Santa Barbara instead.

"We prepared for Palomar, who liked to attack with their middles and fortunately, Santa Barbara likes to do the same, so we just did the best we could," Cutenese said.

Grossmont College -- OCC's next opponent -- defeated No. 15 Ventura in three sets (25-18, 25-16, 25-17) on Tuesday night to advance to Saturday's matchup with the Pirates. The Pirates and Griffins met in the playoffs last year (a four-set win by Grossmont, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16, 25-13).

"We're familiar with their top returning players and hopefully, our experience from last year will help us on Saturday night," Cutenese said.