On Wednesday, March 27, Mt. SAC’s beach volleyball team hosted the Rio Hondo Roadrunners and El Cerritos Falcons in a doubleheader.
SAC began the day edging out the Roadrunners, 3–2, mirroring their first matchup results from the March 8 home contest.
The 1s pair of sophomore Zyra Green (5) and freshman Andrea Brewer (4) versus Roadrunner sophomores Jaida Zuniga (1) and Jade Funtes (7). Green (5) and Brewer (4) would eek out a first set win, 21-19, but would drop the next set, 17-21 and ultimately the decisive third set, 12-15.
Roadrunners up, 1-0 early on.
In the 2s pair matchup, SAC sophomores Liz Ortiz (21) and Capri Salmon (22) faced off against sophomore Maleia Petterez (6) and freshman Maria Bejines (12). Ortiz (21) and Salmons (22) have only lost once this season against the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles and have not lost since Feb. 28. They would remain undefeated in March sweeping Petterez (6) and Bejines (12), 21-13 and 21-16.
Tied up, 1-1, through two matches.
Freshmen Candace Cebllaos (11) and Angelina Griego (20) took on sophomore Daniela Sanchez (11) and freshman Josie Navarro (13) in the 3s matchup. Though both would pair up for the first time this season for SAC, Ceballos (11) and Griego (20) would handily sweep Sanchez (11) and Navarro (13), 21-11 and 21-18.
SAC takes the lead, 2-1.
SAC sophomore Kyra Miller (10) and freshman Sam Parks (25) battled during the 4s pair matchup against freshmen Loren Forster (10) and Carly Kejamr (15). Like the 1s pair, Miller (10) and Parks (25) would take the first set in extras, 24-22, drop the second set, 12-21 and lose the pivotal third set, 12-15.
Foster (10) and Kejamr (15) were able to claim the 4s matchup and tie the overall score for Rio Hondo, 2–2.
In the penultimate 5s pair match, SAC freshmen Eva Becerra (14) and Freda Lei (13) took on sophomore Isabel Vilavicencio (24) and freshman Jennifer Reynoso (14). After a hard-fought 21-18 set win for Becerra (14) and Lei (13), they would build a double-digit lead and never relinquish control of set two completing the sweep and securing the victory for SAC.
Final score for match one, 3-2, SAC.
After the match against Rio Hondo, head coach Samantha Neely was proud the team was able to gut it out during their performance against a conference opponent.
“Our conference is really competitive this year,” Neely said. “Every match is close and we got to work to earn that win so I am proud of the team today for being able to pull out that win.”
Onto the Cerritos Falcons who they had previously beaten convincingly on the road on Friday, March 15, 4-1. The old adage that the better teams win no matter how many times they play against each other applies to this matchup for SAC.
SAC would sweep the Falcons, 5-0, without going to a third set with only three of the ten total sets being single-digit wins.
Green (5) and Brewer (4) would dominate freshmen Jasmine Soto-Castro (2) and Brisa Cortez (14) in the first set, 21-8, before closing out the set sweep in a tightly contested 21-18 set two win. Ortiz (21) and Salmon (22), like the 1s matchup results, would cruise to a 21-11 first-set win and clutched up to secure the set sweep, 23-21.
Ceballos (11) and Griego (20) did not allow freshmen Emily Guitierrez (5) and Jenni Solano (6) to crack double digits in their two-set sweep, 21-8 and 21-9 respectively.
Jillian De Leon (2) would pair up with Miller (10) as they defeated their opponents by a 9.5 average margin of victory against sophomore Kaydence Portillo (22) and freshman Lillianna Peterson (4), 21-10 and 21-12. Becerra (14) and Lei (13) would handily win their 5s pair matchup against sophomore Kira Magdeleno (30) and freshman Judit Navarro (10) by winning both sets by double-digits, 21-11 and 21-10.
After the victory over the Falcons, sophomore Zyra Green (5) commented on her performance that while she had fun, she learned a lot from splitting her matches today. Looking ahead to the postseason, Green was optimistic about the team capturing another conference title.
“I think we have a really strong chance at winning the conference and as far as the postseason goes, we are just trying to win state and that’s the ultimate goal,” she said.
With two victories against Rio Hondo and Cerritos, Mt. SAC improves to 16–2 overall and 6-1 in conference matches. Mt. SAC will host the Desert Roadrunners on Friday, April 5, who they have previously beaten earlier on March 1, 5-0.
