(Walnut, CA) A beautiful sunny winter day added to the inaugural match of the six-court stadium for the Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball team on Friday, January 26.
The Mounties defeated Riverside City College (5-0) and Mt. San Jacinto (3-2) in the double dual to start the 2024 season.
"It feels awesome to be out here on a beautiful day and a perfect way to start the first match in our new stadium," Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball coach Samantha Neely said. "We are just so blessed to have all these facilities and it's only going to make our beach program stronger moving forward.
Mt. SAC Athletic Director Joe Jennum also gave a few words of welcome to all in attendance.
All five Mountie pairs – 1's (Zyra Green/Candace Ceballos), 2's (Capri Salmon/Liz Ortiz), 3's (Andrea Brewer/Naara Ortega), 4's (Kyra Miller/Jillian De Leon) and 5's (Eva Becerra/Freda Lei) swept their matches with two-set wins against RCC.
"It's so beautiful," said Green, who played her first year in the temporary courts last season. "I have no words. It's like our Disneyland. It's a night-and-day thing.
"I feel like everybody is committed and this is a team that is very special and even from indoor in transferring on to beach. I'm excited to see how far we go."
The second match saw MSJC defeat RCC, 4-1.
The third match was the closest of the opening-day matches.
Mt. SAC's 2's, 3's, and 5's pairs remained undefeated with two more, two-set sweeps over MSJC.
Mt. SAC Assistant coach, Danielle Diaz: "It's a dream come true. It's crazy to have been able to see the renderings and three-D models even on paper and even digital and now to be able to see it in real life, it's just surreal. I feel like I'm actually at the beach.
It's something that you're excited to come to every day to practice."
Mt. SAC Assistant Coach, Lauren Quinonez: "As much as our stadium has evolved and improved, the level of competition is also improving. The opportunity to play in the stadium just gives the girls the opportunity to play at a higher level.
It's easy to think about the pressure from last year (23-2 record), but it's a new year and a new team. We're just blessed overall just to be here."
Mt. SAC freshman player Andrea Brewer: "It's so exciting and this court is so nice and I'm so blessed to be a part of a faculty that cares about the sports and academics.
You can see all of the support of the staff, trainers, and coaches who care about us. I just want to work as hard as I can."