Pirates top Hornets in four as Cutenese notches win No. 400!

COSTA MESA -- Longtime head coach Chuck Cutenese picked up his 400th career win in women's volleyball on Wednesday night as the Orange Coast College Pirates topped the Fullerton College Hornets, 20-25, 25-17, 25-10, 25-23, inside the Peterson Gym.

Cutenese, who's 400 career wins is second among all active W-VB coaches (El Camino College's LeValley Pattison -- 462), now has 644 career wins in a 25-year span that includes coaching duties with the men's team (234) and with sand volleyball (10). 

"The entire day was like a total flashback," Cutenese said. "I looked around the stands and saw former players and all day, I was thinking back to my former assistant coaches who all were a big part of making this happen," Cutenese said. "Perhaps my most rewarding part of all of this was that Adrian (longtime assistant coach Adrian Delgado) has been here for all of it. He's seen the ups and downs ... the state championships and the seasons where we weren't so good. He's taken a much larger role over time and his contributions have been incredible."

 As for the match, the Pirates (6-6, 1-1 in the Orange Empire Conference) were led by Funaki Hansen, who ripped 13 kills on just 17 attempts with only one error. She also notched 15 digs and a pair of solo blocks. 

Setter Megan Ritchie came off of the bench and really jump-started the offense for the Pirates, who lost the opening set, 25-20 before outscoring the Hornets 50-27 over the next two sets. The sophomore distributor had 30 assists to go along with four kills, and seven digs.

Sierra Lim anchored the defense with 25 digs, while Tileree Johnson and Aubrey St. Laurent added offensive firepower with nine kills apiece.

It was a ragged start to things as Fullerton (2-6, 0-2) used a 12-3 run to pull ahead in the opening set, thanks in large part to 10 hitting errors along the way.

Ritchie came into the match and immediately turned things around for the Pirates. After leading 16-13, Coast pulled away with a 6-2 run, with a pair of St. Laurent kills and single putaways by Hansen, Johnson and Ritchie sparking the outburst.

OCC took advantage of several Hornet mistakes in the third set and jumped out to a 20-8 advantage before cruising from there.

In the fourth set, it looked like another runaway for the Pirates as they led 11-2, but the Hornets continued to fight and clawed back to trail 20-17 and forced Cutenese into taking a timeout.

From there, the set went back and forth and twice, Fullerton got to within a point of the Pirates, but could never even things up as a kill by Gardner ended the contest.

"I always challenge each team to leave a mark with our program and I've also set goals for myself as well," Cutenese said. "I wanted to have more state titles than Jane (hall of fame coach Jane Hilgendorf) and we are tied, 3-3. To be able to coach for 25 years and win 400 matches, I'm very grateful to have been able to coach for this long.

"Looking back at the state titles ... I treat each one like they were my children. I'll never forget that feeling after the first title in 2005. In 2006, with all of the pressure to return to the top, that team was able to overcome and get it done. And in 2009, the way that team climbed all the way from the loser's bracket in the opening round and come all the way back -- they are all extremely special to me."

Is there enough gas in the tank for 500 wins? "I don't see why not," Cutenese said with a smile. "I still continue to challenge myself and it helps keep me current. I feel great, my energy level is high and I've got several more years of coaching left for me to do." 

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday night, at home, against Santiago Canyon, beginning at 6 p.m.