(Torrance, CA) More history continues to be made for the Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball program, as two sets of pairs have qualified for the CCCAA State Championships May 12, 13 to be held at West Valley College in Saratoga.
As the program-best 23 wins by the undefeated South Coast Conference team season came to an end last week, the two sets of pairs will represent Mt. SAC for the first time at the state finals.
Sophomore Riley DeGroot is paired with freshman Paige Gutowski and they were seeded No. 17 in the So Cal's.
The second pair was sophomores Allison Whiteman and Bristol Christelman and were seeded No. 11.
"Our two pairs had a long weekend but finished strong overall," Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball coach Danielle Diaz said. "DeGroot/Gutowski and Whiteman/Christelman are the first two pairs to ever qualify to a state championship in Mt. SAC Beach history and it's an incredible accomplishment. Finishing as the No. 7 and No. 9 pairs in the So Cal's out of 125 pairs is a huge achievement. We are excited to travel up north this week to compete for the CCCAA Pairs State Championships."
On day 1, the team of DeGroot/Gutowski qualified for state in their first match, as they swept Saddleback's No. 16 Seed.
They continued winning and came away victorious on their second match of the day against the top seed sweeping Long Beach City College, 21-12, 21-9. On Saturday, they had three matches, losing in the quarterfinals against the No.12, Ventura. They dropped their second match of the day against No.4 from Orange Coast College.
Their final match was a forfeit win over No. 23 Ventura. They finished in the number seven position overall.
Whiteman/Christelman were seeded No. 11 and beat the No. 22 Seed from Mira Costa College, which qualified them to the state pairs championship. They dropped their second match of the day against the No. 6 Seed from Irvine Valley College. They finished off the day with a win against the No. 19 Seed from Moorpark. On day 2, they won both matches, finishing strong with wins over No. 18 San Diego Mesa and No. 24 Irvine Valley. They finished No. 9 overall.