(Saratoga, CA) With the team Beach Volleyball season a distant memory for Mt. SAC, the pairs 3C2A So Cal and State Championships took center stage over the last two weeks.
Mt. SAC freshmen Candace Ceballos and Angelina Griego made history for the Beach Volleyball program with a ninth-place finish in the state championships, on Saturday, May 11 at West Valley College.
"I am so proud of Candace (Ceballos) and Ang's (Griego) competitiveness, work ethic, and positive attitude that they displayed at this state championship," Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball coach Samantha Neely said. "They earned their spot and made some waves by getting several upset wins over higher seeds in the tournament."
Ceballos/Griego, who came into the state championships ranked 26th, finished in the round of 16 in the Saturday afternoon match.
They opened the first day (Friday) of the tournament with a 2-1 record in pool play to advance to the round of 16 on Saturday.
In their pool play matches, they defeated OCC (14-21, 22-20, 15-6) and SBCC (21-12, 21-14), while losing to Feather River College (15-21, 18-21).
In the round of 16, Ceballos/Griego faced Moorpark's Dakoske/Hazelton, who were 3-0 in pool play. The two young Mountie freshmen fell in straight sets, 10-21, 15-21. Dakoske/Hazelton went on to advance to the semifinals.
"This was both of their first times competing at this tournament, and they represented Mt. SAC well," Neely said. "I am happy that Candace got to experience this state tournament in her freshman season and am confident that she will use this experience to continue growing and learning to make it back here next year and go even farther. This is the second year that Mt. SAC beach volleyball has competed at the pairs state championship, and we feel lucky to have been able to represent our program."
In the 3C2A Southern California Championships, May 3-4, at El Camino College, the Mounties were represented by No. 17 Seed Ceballos/Griego and sophomore Zyra Green and freshman Andrea Brewer, who came in seeded 11th.
"We were thrilled, for a second year in a row, to have two pairs get the opportunity to compete at the SoCal Regional Championships," Neely said. "Both Ceballos/Griego and Brewer/Green have been dominant out in the sand this season, and we were excited to compete against some of the best in SoCal."
Ceballos/Griego opened the So Cal's with a first-round victory over the Cypress College pairs and won in straight sets, 21-19, 21-9.
In round two, they lost to El Camino's Dorr/D'Angelo 0-2 (21-17, 21-17), sending them to the consolation bracket in which they competed in three more matches, eventually earning the 14th seed and the automatic bid to state.
In consolation Match No.1, they lost to Jarvis/Spires of Palomar (21-18, 21-17), won the second match by forfeit, and lost in Match No. 3, 21-16, 21-13 to Alden/Fellens of Mira Costa
Green/Brewer opened the So Cal's ranked 11th, but lost in the opening round, 23-21, 21-15. They played in the consolation 17th through 19th bracket, but lost in a close second and third sets,15-21, 24-22, 11-15 to end their season.
The Mt. SAC Beach Volleyball team finished third in the South Coast Conference this past season and finished with a 19-5 overall record.