Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : Orange Coast Has Few Faults Again in Tennis

The news is pretty much the same every spring when it comes to women’s community college tennis in Orange County: Orange Coast is far and away the best team.

The Pirates, under Coach Janice Maran, are 11-0 overall and lead the Orange Empire Conference with a 7-0 record. But this is hardly news for Maran, who took over the program in 1977. Her teams have won 11 consecutive conference titles starting in 1978. Orange Coast has a record of 133-5 in conference matches and an overall record of 158-12 in 11 1/2 seasons.

Orange Coast has also won state titles in four of the last five years, missing in 1986 when Fullerton won the championship.

Two main reasons for the success of this year’s team are Julie Slattery and Natalie Hastings. Slattery is the defending state singles champion and has a record of 10-0. She is 120-32 in games. She and Hastings teamed to win the state doubles title last season and are 10-0 this season. They are 122-33 in games.

Softball: Fullerton, behind sophomore pitcher Kirstin Jacobs, has taken the lead in the Orange Empire Conference. Jacobs is 19-7 overall and 5-1 in conference play for Fullerton, which leads with a 7-1 record.

Defending champion Saddleback (5-2) is second, Golden West (4-4) third, Riverside (3-5) fourth, Rancho Santiago (3-6) fifth, Cypress (2-5) sixth and Orange Coast (2-6) seventh.

Golf: Orange Coast defeated Saddleback, 370-374, Friday to take the lead in the Orange Empire Conference race. John Harding, OCC’s No. 5 player, shot a 69 to lead host Orange Coast at the Costa Mesa Golf Course. It was the lowest round for any Orange Coast player this season.

Orange Coast has a record of 13-2. Saddleback (8-2) is second. Saddleback will get a chance to pull even in the standings when the Gauchos play host to a conference match at Mission Viejo Country Club April 14.

Teams on the road just play the host team, but the host team plays the four visiting teams under the conference’s scoring format.

Men’s and women’s swimming: Orange Coast’s women and men have dominated Orange Empire Conference opponents. The Orange Coast teams are both 5-0 and in first place in conference play. It’s pretty much the same story in the South Coast Conference, where the Golden West men’s and women’s teams are 3-0 with three meets left.

Men’s tennis: Saddleback, the top-ranked team in the state, and Orange Coast, ranked third, have made it a two-team race. Saddleback won the first meeting, 6-3, over Orange Coast.

Neither team has lost more than two points to any other conference team. OCC (6-1 in conference) is at Saddleback (7-0) April 18.

Track and field: The Riverside teams won the conference titles last Friday with a sweep of Fullerton at Riverside. The men won, 88-45, to finish the conference dual-meet season at 5-0.

Both women’s teams were 4-0 going in, but Riverside clinched the conference title with a 77-51 victory. The conference meet will be at Riverside on April 28.

Volleyball: Orange Coast (12-1) leads L.A. Pierce (11-1) by a half game in the South Coast Conference race. Golden West (8-4) is third and LaVerne (8-6) fourth. The top three conference teams qualify for the Southern California playoffs.

The northern half of the state has a conference this season and its winner will fill the other playoff spot. The four teams will play a single-elimination tournament May 5 at El Camino College.

Irvine Valley: Pam Deegan, who heads Irvine Valley College’s Athletic Commission, said that a sports program is still a ways off.

The commission is holding planning meetings that will continue for the next few months. After the recommendations, there is the chance of some club teams playing as early as next fall. However, nothing is official, according to Deegan, who is also head of the health life and earth sciences programs at Irvine Valley, which opened in 1979 as Saddleback North. The college’s name was changed to Irvine Valley in 1985.

Community College Notes

Scott Talanoa of Orange Coast hit a three-run home run against Fullerton Saturday to take the Orange Empire Conference lead with 10. Talanoa has hit seven home runs in his last 13 games. . . . El Camino and Cypress will play the championship game of the Cypress baseball tournament Friday at 1 p.m. at Cypress. . . . Alisha Bokano of Cypress is hitting .400 (42 of 105), and teammate Rose Ferrante is at .398 (43 of 108) with three doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 32 RBIs.