Gauchos down Pirates in four

The Saddleback women's volleyball team picked up a nice win on Wednesday night with a four-set victory over Orange Coast College at the Saddleback Gymnasium.  With the win, the Gauchos remain in a tie for second place in the Orange Empire Conference.

Saddleback entered the night in a tie with Cypress College for second place in OEC play and needed to beat an Orange Coast squad that entered the night just one game behind them in the standings.  The Gauchos delivered, taking out the Pirates in four sets, 25-15, 24-26, 32-30, 25-14.

Saddleback made quick work of the Pirates in the opening set by running away with a 25-15 win.  Set two was far more competitive as Orange Coast battled back for a 26-24 win to even the match at 1-1.  The third set turned into a marathon, with both teams trading runs.  The Gauchos would prevail with a 32-30 win to take a 2-1 lead.  Saddleback then put the Pirates away with a comfortable 25-14 win in set four. 

Saddleback received great performances from a handful of players, including Antonette Rolda, Kelli Dowell and Kendall Nolan.  Rolda led the team with 57 assists for the night while Dowell had 19 digs in the defensive end.  Nolan led the squad in both kills (21) and aces (3).

Saddleback now has a match with last place Santiago Canyon on Friday before a showdown with Cypress next Monday.  Both matches are at home, starting at 6:00 PM.