Costa Mesa, Calif. - Golden West women's volleyball defeated Orange Coast Wednesday night in a tense match up of the two top teams. Golden West pressed in on offense, and took the Orange Empire Conference title with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 win over the Pirates.

Alyssa Hubbard lead the Rustlers with twelve kills and one solo block, teammate Alicia Utke chipped in nine kills of her own, along with service aces. Saelina Dunn also delivered nine kills and one ace.

Jade Gray kept her team moving with thirty-six assists, and Talia DeFalco led the defense with ten digs by the end of the third match. 

With standing room only, this highly anticipated match up saw a late rally by the Rustlers in the first match, where OCC was leading, until a 5-0 run for Golden West took the score 17-16. OCC then reclaimed the lead at 21-20. The Rustlers responded with a 4-1 run to close the opening set.

The second set had the fans seeing double, as the second match looked just like the first, and when the score was tied 17-17, the Rustlers made their move. Golden West took a 22-17 advantage, and finished the set with a win.

The third, and final game had a total of 13 different lead changes, no team had a lead larger than 2 points throughout the set. Golden West closed out the match to be crowned with the Orange Empire Conference title.

The Southern California Regional Playoffs will begin Tuesday. Locations and times will be announced, along with seeding.

Congratulations to the women of Ruslter volleyball -- 2012 OEC Champions!