Mt. SAC’s beach volleyball pair, sophomore blocker, Eva Fisher (15) and sophomore defender Emma Carson (12), closed out their season after a loss against Feather River College in round 1 of the 3C2A state championship on Saturday morning, May 9.

After their 2 out of 3 win on Friday that helped them advance to Saturday’s competition, the pair started their morning with competitive energy against FRC.

All three sets were completed with back to back points for both teams that had spectators on the edge of their seats. In the first half of the first set, SAC fell short with the set ending in a 22-20 loss. The pair kept up a fight as they prepared for the next set.

The next set was where SAC shined. They scored the first point against FRC. The battle continued as both teams put up a fight against one another with neither backing down. SAC was the first team to score to 21 as FRC fell short in this set, losing 21-19.

The final set started with multiple errors on SAC’s end with both girls mishandling the ball or causing a service error. FRC was able to gain multiple points on SAC during the few minutes of the game. SAC was able to catch up with multiple saves and evening out their previous errors.

FRC ultimately caught back up and won this set with the final score being 15-9, eliminating Mt. SAC in round 1.

Although disappointed, Head Beach Volleyball Coach Samantha Neely provided some insight on how the pair played.

“Feather Rivers 1s pair is one of the top in the state and I think we gave them a really good run,” Coach Neely said. “We challenged them in a lot of ways … Overall I’m just really grateful for the season that we’ve had with Emma and Eva.”

Fisher (15) shares how honored she is to have shared her past two seasons with Carson (12).

“I am just very blessed and honored to have gotten to play with her for not only one but both years,” Fisher (15) said. “She’s the only beach partner I’ve really ever had but she’s the best beach partner I’ve ever had and I would not want to be out here on the sand with anyone else.”

Fisher (15) is closing her chapter at Mt. SAC but plans on continuing with her beach volleyball career once she transfers.

Carson (12) explained how happy she was to have had Fisher (15) as a partner.

“I think we both played as hard as we could that last round,” Carson (12) said. “… She’s [Fisher] just so versatile for a typical blocker because she’s a middle from indoor [volleyball] and you never see middles that are that good at playing defense … She’s going to go really far. I’m proud of her and I’m happy that I was able to be her partner this year.”

Carson (12) is unsure about her beach volleyball career and is currently still deciding which path she will take.

Overall, Mt. SAC beach volleyball total season had an overall scoring of 17-9 and will continue next season with half of their roster returning to play.