Bobcats take over conference lead

The Saddleback women's volleyball team defeated Orange Coast College, 3-2, on Wednesday night in Costa Mesa.  With the win, the Bobcats are in first place in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). 

Saddleback pulled off a clean sweep of the Pirates on Wednesday, defeating OCC in men's and women's water polo during the day and then women's volleyball at night.  Most impressive was the fact that they did it all on the road in Costa Mesa.  The final dagger was a five-set win in volleyball to finish the sweep, and with it the Bobcats took over the top spot in the OEC standings.

Saddleback dropped the first set in a tight battle when Orange Coast nipped the Bobcats, 26-24.  Saddleback then rallied to take the next two games (25-22, 25-20), thus putting Orange Coast into a hole. 

OCC rallied to win game four, 25-22, to force a fifth and final set.  Saddleback sprinted to the early lead in the final set, jumping out in front of the Pirates 6-2.  Orange Coast rallied to even the score, but could never take the lead.  Saddleback again responded, scoring seven of the next nine points for a 13-8 advantage.  The Bobcats would hold on for a 15-12 win to take down the Pirates.

Saddleback is now 9-3 overall and 5-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats lead Irvine Valley College by a half-game in the standings, with Orange Coast, Cypress and Riverside City all 1.5 games back at 3-2.

Saddleback will resume Orange Empire Conference play on Friday when they host Golden West College (7-4, 3-3).  The Bobcats and Rustlers are scheduled to start at 6:00 PM inside the gymnasium.