Weekly Hornet

Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Thomas Van Deusen

The Lady Hornets, who were No. 2 in state, finally found an opponent that had an answer for everything they could throw at them. Orange Coast was solid on defense, blocks, serves and kills throughout the match, and finally defeated Fullerton in four sets (30-23, 27-30, 31-33, 22-30).

The Fullerton Women's Volleyball team came out ready to dominate the No. 1 team in the state. They took control early in the first set with 3 consecutive points after Orange Coast had tallied one. The Pirates came back to even the score at 3-3, but outside hitter Nicole Coffer slammed home one of her team leading 21 kills, and Fullerton took off from there.

Orange Coast never reached within 3 points of Fullerton sand the Lady Hornets lead by as much as 8 points.

The first set, as with the entire match, featured intense volleys between the two teams, but outside hitter Crisi Nihipali finally put the first set away with one of her 18 kills. Fullerton (9-2, 2-1) let off of the gas pedal in the second set. The Lady Hornets put up 5 unanswered points, but let the Pirates come back with 6 points to even the score at 6-6.

From there Orange Coast, the back-to-back state champions, matched Fullerton point for point. In the late stages of the match the Pirates pulled ahead 25-21, but the Lady Hornets fought back with 4 strraight points to even the score again. A tip by Pirate outside hitter Jessica Roy put them ahead again, and they added another on an error by Fullerton.

Coffer fought back once more, and pulled the Lady Hornets within one. She would add a tip for another Fullerton point, but Orange Coast (9-1, 3-0) took the set with a kill from outside hitter Jacquelin Reed, who led her squad with 26 kills, and a failed double block by Fullerton.

The third set was up for grabs. Fullerton again came out and put up 2 points to take an early lead after a service ace by outside hitter Leah Haproff, but Orange Coast's Reed laid down a kill to even the the score.

Both schools traded points with aces, kills and double blocks on each side. The Lady
Hornets could have established a strong lead anywhere within the third set, but service errors began to take their toll. Fullerton truly was hit or miss on serving Friday night.

"Whether the game goes three or the game goes ten, we've got to be ready to play and conditioned for that," said Fulleton Head Coach Eddie Rapp. "We put pressure on them with our serve in the first game, and then we kind of let go of our serve. We allowed them to get in, and they started to get confidence."

Continued...

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