COC NOTEBOOK: COC VOLLEYBALL SEEKS MOMENTUM.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

Before she took her maternity leave Oct. 9, College of the Canyons women's volleyball coach Lisa Hooper told her players she hoped to return in time for the playoffs.

Hooper gave birth to her first child - 7-pound, 11-ounce Kira Grace - at 12:31 a.m. Friday, giving her more than three weeks off before the playoffs begin Nov. 23.

In the meantime, interim coach Eben Hale is trying to make sure COC arrives at that date with some momentum. The Cougars went 3-2 in the first round of Western State Conference South Division play, which concluded Tuesday with a 30-21, 20-30, 30-23, 30-19 victory at Glendale.

Hale knows the next five matches will make or break COC's season. If the Cougars (9-4) can win out, they'll finish in no worse than a tie for second place. And if they can get some help from Santa Monica, they could end up in a three-way tie with Pierce (10-1, 5-0) and Santa Monica (9-6, 4-1) for first.

COC, which hasn't won consecutive matches in more than two weeks, plays Friday at Citrus College.

``Every match is gut-check time with these girls,'' Hale said. ``We took a baby step (against Glendale). But every match is important for us to build momentum.''

Hale knows COC missed an opportunity to take a giant step forward Friday at home against rival Pierce, which handed the Cougars a 30-26, 30-28, 25-30, 30-25 loss.

COC played even with or better than the Brahmas for most of the match, but crucial lapses late in the first, second and fourth games were the difference.

``One bad thing happens, and it takes them five or six plays to recover,'' Hale said. ``That's something we definitely need to fix. We need to go back to the basics of pass, set and hit, and build from there.''

Hale said he hopes the match against Citrus provides the Cougars a timely energy boost to carry them through the stretch run.

``From what I hear through the grapevine, (Citrus is) tired,'' Hale said. ``So I'm going to have to reach into my coaching bag of tricks, and hopefully I'll pull out the right one.

``I hope (the next five matches) are incentive enough. But it's about working hard in practice and committing ourselves to getting better.''

--Wrapping it up: Following COC's scoreless tie Friday at Bakersfield, it appears the race for the WSC South Division championship in women's soccer might come down to the regular-season finale between COC and Pierce.

With COC's 4-1 win Tuesday over Glendale and Pierce's 2-1 loss to Bakersfield, the Cougars won't have to wait until Monday to secure the title.

COC (12-2-3) improved to 6-1-2 in the division, ahead of Bakersfield (4-2-3) and Pierce (3-2-3).

COC, which finished 8-5-5 last season, also secured a berth in the 16- team Southern California Regional playoffs with the victory.

--The waiting game: With its 2-2 tie Tuesday against Santa Barbara, the COC men's soccer team concluded its regular season at 12-3-4, doubling its win total from last year.

The Cougars (8-2-4 in WSC) must wait two weeks before playing their opening-round game in the Southern California Regional playoffs.

COC is guaranteed to finish among the top three teams in the conference, but exactly where depends on how Moorpark and Santa Barbara finish the regular season.

Conference-leading Moorpark (12-2-2, 9-1-2) closes out against eighth-place Citrus and seventh-place Oxnard, and second-place Santa Barbara (10-5-3, 8-2-2) finishes with fifth-place Mission and sixth-place Glendale.

Even if COC finishes third, it should earn one of the seven at-large berths into the 12-team regional playoffs. The Cougars have been ranked among the top 12 in Southern California by California Community College Soccer News all season.

The playoff pairings will be announced Nov. 11 at Fullerton College.