Moorpark Outlasts Orange Coast

Moorpark College needed 13 match points to finish off Orange Coast, 15-1, 15-6, 6-15, 17-15, in a Southern California regional quarterfinal women’s volleyball match Saturday at Moorpark.

The Raiders advanced to the state finals in Stockton beginning Friday.

It was the 21st consecutive victory for third-seeded Moorpark (21-1), which defeated Orange Coast in four games in the first-round of the Moorpark tournament in September.

Outside hitter Carina Nusinov led the Raiders with 27 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore Toni-Ann Merendino added 15 kills and 24 digs, and Patti Myzskowski had nine kills and four blocks.

The first game lasted 13 minutes. Nusinov had six kills and Merendino added three as the Pirates managed just eight side-outs. Setter Shannon Keller and Myzskowski combined for four stuff blocks--including three in a row--to give the Raiders a 14-0 lead.

Moorpark used an 11-1 run to take command of the second game. Myzskowski had four kills and Colleen Keller, Shannon’s twin, added three dumps. Nusinov ended the game with an ace.

“It took two games to get warmed up,” said Nusinov, a sophomore from Calabasas High.

“We expected them to be tough, and the last two games, they were the team that we saw in our tournament.”

The Pirates (19-7) started blocking in game three and built an 11-1 lead. Back-to-back kills by Merendino pulled Moorpark to within 14-6, but Kelly McFarlane and Natasha Evylnn combined to block Gina Morgan and Orange Coast was back in the match.

“In the third game, we noticed they were only setting outside, but our line blocking wasn’t good,” Nusinov said. “In game four, we went back to our angle block, and it worked much better.”

Shannon Keller finished with eight kills, 57 assists and 14 digs for Moorpark, which had 100 defensive digs and 69 kills.

In the fourth game, a 5-0 run gave Moorpark a 9-4 lead. The Pirates saved 11 match points in pulling even, 14-14, and took the lead on Nusinov’s hit out of bounds.

Nusinov’s block tied the score, then a Merendino kill gave Moorpark a 16-15 lead before Shannon Keller’s dump ended it.

Lauren Wilson had 22 kills, Evylnn had 17 kills and Tina Nguyen had 38 assists for Orange Coast.

Moorpark’s only loss was against top-seeded Golden West in its opener.