Golden West wins seesaw battle over Orange Coast

It was neck and neck throughout the entire match, but Golden West came out the victor over Orange Coast by a final of 28-26, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 at home.

Golden West (14-2, 8-2) and Orange Coast (10-5, 5-5) traded blows seemingly on every point throughout the entire match. It took extra points for the Rustlers to win the first set, which was done on the superb attacking by Tyler Davis. Davis led the team in kills with 19 and was the go-to attacker in the beginning.

When Davis started to struggle, Jordyn Sanchez took over as the main attacker. Sanchez finished with 14 kills and also made her mark defensively with 22 digs. Libero Kelynn Mullally led the defense with 23 digs, in what was an incredible back line performance of 71 total digs.

The Rustlers' attack would not have been possible without consistency by the setter. After being benched during the second set, setter Taylor Packer came back on the court focused and determined to be a consistent helper. Packer recorded 49 assists contributing to one of Golden West's best offensive performances of the season.

Orange Coast did its best to force a fifth set by starting set four with a 4-0 lead, but Golden West came back and went on a streak of its own. This one came on the back of Drucilla Gauta who singlehandedly ended the game by scoring the final five points. Gauta finished as the second leading attacker with 18 kills and she kept up her accuracy with a .412 hitting percentage.

Golden West will travel to Fullerton this Friday, and will then play two consecutive home matches. Wednesday, Nov. 13 is against Saddleback and Friday, Nov. 15 will be against Riverside.

Written By: Kyle Infante