Pirates return to State Tournament after topping Lasers, Roadrunners at SoCal Regionals

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Winning breeds winning ... and for the Orange Coast College beach volleyball team, this 2023 season has been nothing BUT winning as the Pirates topped Irvine Valley (4-1) and Rio Hondo (5-0) on Tuesday at the Southern California Regionals to advance to the CCCAA State Championships for the second year in a row.

In a school year that has (SO FAR) seen two state championships (women's basketball, men's volleyball), two state runner-ups (women's water polo, women's tennis) and countless conference championships and playoff appearances, the Pirate beach volleyball program will further enhance OCC's swagger as one of the most dominant sports programs in all of California Community College athletics.

"Seeing the previous years and the men's team do such amazing things, it really gave us a purpose because we wanted to experience that glory," Cutwright said. "It kind of feels like it's our turn to achieve something so cool and for it to be with a newer program just makes us work that much harder."

The return trip to the finals is especially sweet for the Pirate returners -- Paige Cutwright, Brisa Zepata-Reaves, Izzy Duchaine and Lexy Mendoza -- who helped OCC reach the big dance for the first time in school history, but fell in the opening pool play to Feather River, 3-2.

"It means everything to us to get back to the state tournament," Cutwright said. "I know for myself and the returners, it's all we've been thinking about this season. We have something to prove since losing last year and I knew that fire was going to spread to the freshman."

In the opener against conference-rival Irvine Valley (12-12), Coast picked up straight-set wins from the pairs of Zepata-Reaves/Corinne Williams (21-10, 21-17), Mendoza/Jesse Coralle (21-14, 21-13) and Natalia Brandlin/Rose Whitter (21-7, 21-14). 

At No. 2, the pair of Cutwright/Alexandra Selivanov were pushed to a third set, but pulled out a 21-19, 20-22, 15-7 win for OCC's fourth victory of the match.

"There is so much to say about this beach team," OCC head coach Chuck Cutenese said. "We started the year with not really knowing what pairs to put together. We told the players to work on getting better and not what number they play. Then, we started juggling the players to see who works best together. When 10 play and you have 16, you worry about making everyone happy, but this team has not complained and have been in it for each other. I'm most proud of their improvement as players. I'm proud that they set the goal to return to state. And, I'm proud they have represented OCC in a professional manner."

In the afternoon session against Rio Hondo (15-7) it was five straight-set wins for the Pirates, courtesy of Zepata-Reaves/Williams (21-14, 21-6), Coralle/Mendoza (21-15, 21-13), Cutwright/Selivanov (21-11, 21-18), Brandlin/Whitter (21-15, 21-12) and Leah Thibault/Kingsley Mason (21-13, 21-16). 

The Pirates will look to bring the first-ever state beach volleyball championship to a college on the verge of making all-time history. With 98 state/national championships, Orange Coast College is looking to become the first California community college to reach 100 and a win by the beach volleyball program might be that magic title. 

"I definitely think making it to state last has helped us get here," Cutwright said. "We understand how everything works and can help make the newcomers feel more comfortable. This group of girls are freshmen. A lot of them are primarily indoor players but they are so coachable and you can tell how much they want to be better. There's only four returners and we all want to get some redemption from last year. This team is hopeful and determined to help us achieve that. I'm extremely proud of how hard everyone has worked and I have no doubt that we'll be able to bring home a state title."