October 14, 2005
Dons Snap 20-Match OEC Winless Streak

MISSION VIEJO, CA - On Friday, Santa Ana College's 20-match, Orange Empire Conference (OEC)-winless streak came to an end when the Dons
(3-6, 1-4) downed Saddleback College, 30-26, 23-30, 30-27, 27-30, 18-16, in conference play.

In just her second match, Brittany Thompson had a team-high 14 kills and two blocks to lead the Dons. Oe Levale added 12 kills and had six of the Dons' nine aces in the match. Mary Katnik were also in double figure 10 kills while Jennifer Kohlenberger handed out a season-high 42 assists in the win.

In the first game, Levale served four consecutive aces to break a 15-15 tie and lead the Dons to a 30-26 win. Saddleback bounced back in game two and held on for a 30-23 win to even the match.

Santa Ana broke a 24-24 tie in game three by outscoring the Gauchos 6-3 to take a 2-1 lead with a 30-27 win.

The Gauchos sent the match to a fifth game by bouncing back with a 30-27 victory of its own in game four after the score was tied at 23-23.

Saddleback let a 14-12 lead slip away in the fifth and final game as the Dons ran off two straight points to even the score at 14-14. The Gauchos had two more match points at 15-14 and 16-15 but couldn't put the match away during a pair of long rallies. When Santa Ana had its first match point of the fifth game at 17-16, the Dons capitalized by winning another long rally to win 18-16.

Santa Ana's last OEC win also came against the Gauchos, a three-game sweep (30-24, 30-28, 31-29) back on November 7, 2003.

NEXT: Golden West College at Santa Ana College, Wednesday,
October 19, 5 p.m., in Cook Gymnasium.