Orange Coast Completes Undefeated Season to Repeat as OEC Champions

Orange Coast College Women's Volleyball dominated on their way to a second consecutive Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championship. The Pirates went undefeated (16-0) in conference play, sweeping all but two of their matches.

OCC Head Coach Chuck Cutenese was named OEC Coach of the Year while sophomore standout Nika Safavi earned Most Valuable Player honors. The outside hitter from Beckman High led the conference in kills with 262 while collecting the sixth most digs at 160. Orange Coast also had five more players named to All-OEC teams. 

The Golden West Rustlers had their best finish since the 2016 season (12-4), taking sole possession of second place with a record of 13-3. The duo of Jalissa Costa and Jenna Zaffino combined for 381 kills to give the Rustlers the offense they needed to get back into the playoffs this year.

Freshman libero Keelyn Lopez set the tone for the Saddleback Bobcats as she led the conference in digs with 243. The Bobcats represent the third-place team and the last OEC team to clinch playoff berth this season.

No. 13 seeded Golden West will host No. 20 Citrus on Saturday, November 22nd while No. 19 Saddleback will go on the road to face No. 14 Long Beach City.

The No. 3 seeded Orange Coast Pirates will host the winner of the Long Beach City/Saddleback matchup on Tuesday, November 25th.

MVP: Nika Safavi - Orange Coast                                                                         

Coach of the Year: Chuck Cutenese - Orange Coast

First Team All-Conference

Sophie Vienna - Orange Coast

Kayla Ihrig  - Orange Coast

Joey Payan - Orange Coast

Jenna Zaffino - Golden West

Jalissa Costa - Golden West

Delaney Hughes - Saddleback

Keelyn Lopez - Saddleback

Alya Mersin  - Irvine Valley

Addison Riddle - Cypress

Alexis Tortola - Santa Ana

Riley Rush - Riverside

Bri Stotmore - Fullerton

Ashlyn Smith - Santiago Canyon

Second Team All-Conference

Kennedy Cutler - Orange Coast

Kyla Untalan  - Orange Coast

Cassandra Zoellers - Golden West

Meghan Freck - Golden West

Sadie Holmes - Saddleback

Sara Johnson - Saddleback

Jazlynn Fu - Irvine Valley

Keilyn Flores - Cypress

Dayana Avila - Santa Ana

Keira Isgar - Riverside

Ayva Espinda - Fullerton

Jayden Sessom - Santiago Canyon

*Story by Cammie Lewis, Santa Ana College