The Orange Empire Conference (OEC) women's tennis championships is set to kick off on Thursday, April 6 and conclude on Friday, April 7 at the Fran Bushman Tennis Courts on the campus of Riverside City College.
The Orange Coast College Pirates were crowned the conference champions after posting a 5-0 clip. They are currently undefeated with a 17-0 overall record. Saddleback followed with a 4-2 clip, backed by Riverside with a 2-3 overall conference mark.
OCC boasts the top duos team featuring Logan Koitka and Madeleine Veltri. They earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of third-seed Emily West and Kavelle Tomaiko of Saddleback and fourth-seeded Monica Carrillo and Adrielle Fotchi of Riverside on Friday.
Cypress' Shellah Gabasan and Mia Kassabian earned the fifth overall seed and will hold a showdown against Riverside's sixth-seeded Christa McDowell and Hailey Dunkel. Saddleback's Brooke Buser and Ellie Maruna will earn a first-round bye and take on the winner.
Orange Coast's ninth-seeded Sedona Smith and Olivia Sipiora earn the third bye of the tournament. Riverside's 12th-seeded Susana Iniguez and Kaden Richards will fight to earn a spot in the next round, but must get through Cypress' 11th-seeded Kassy Nyguen and Sidney Dominguez.
Saddleback's Sydney Grove and Ainsley Beresford earn the final bye of the bracket and will play the winner of OCC's Camilia Nelson and Leanne Pascua versus Cypress' Katie Wong and Eliza Carrillo.
OCC's Koitka will hold the top singles position to earn a first round bye along with (9) Sedona Smith, (32) Maddy Veltri, Saddleback's (16) Shelley Grove, Cypress' (17) Shellah Gabasan, (24) Ainsley Beresford and Riverside's (9) Susana Iniguez and (25) Kaden Richards.
Saddleback's (3) Kavelle Tomaiko will take on Riverside's (4) Hailey Dunkel, while Cypress' (5) Mia Kassabian and OCC's (6) Olivia Sipiora will face off. Saddleback's (11) Ellie Maruna is set to square up with Cypress' (12) Katie Wong, while RCC's (13) Adrielle Fotchi and Cypress' (14) Kassy Nguyen round out the top half of the bracket.
RCC's (19) Monica Carrillo and OCC's (20) Leanne Pascua settle in at the top of the second half of the bracket, while OCC's (21) Camila Nelson and RCC's (22) Christa McDowell will follow. Saddleback's (27) Thea Amadin and Cypress' (28) Sidney Dominguez will go head to head, while Saddleback's (29) Brooke Buser and Cypress' (30) Eliza Carrillo will round out the first-round singles matches.
Release by Nicho DellaValle, Riverside SID