Gauchos scare but can't sink Pirates

The Orange Empire Conference schedule started out with a humdinger as Orange Coast College (9-1) visited Saddleback College (3-6) to open the conference schedule.  Orange Coast won the match in five sets, 20-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 15-10.

The host Gauchos came out loose and enthused, jumping out to a 20-10 lead in the first set as Orange Coast made several attacking errors and fed Saddleback's  middle blockers at the net.  The Pirates evened the match with a victory in the second set.

The third set was a thriller as the teams traded points, keeping the score tied from 17-all through 24-all before Saddleback pushed through for the win.  It looked like the Gauchos could have closed out the match in the fourth set, bouncing back from an early four-point deficit to tie the score at 17's, but Orange Coast was able to get three quick points and hold on to win the set.  The Pirates led all the way in the fifth set as Saddleback struggled with its serving.  The Gauchos fought back during rallies to pull to within two points at 11-9, the serving errors allowed Orange Coast to regain the momentum it needed to nail down the match.