Irvine Valley hosting first CCCAA Sand Volleyball State event

The inaugural California Community College Athletic Association Women's Sand Volleyball State Championships will take place this Friday and Saturday at Irvine Valley College.

The team State Championship will happen Friday beginning at 10 a.m. with the individual State Championship event taking place on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Four teams, which won regional competitions on Tuesday, will be vie for the team state title on Friday.

Those teams are Cabrillo, Golden West, Grossmont and Irvine Valley.

Irvine Valley, which has been tabbed as the No. 1 seed, won the state indoor women's volleyball title last fall.

Eight of the top 10 players from the IVC indoor squad make up the five sand two-player teams for the Lasers.

Irvine Valley's teams consist of the No. 1 tandem of Marisa Doran and Kobi Pekich, the No. 2 team of Annie Mitchem and Emily Reinking, the No. 3 duo of Samantha Holdredge and Hailee Earnest, the No. 4 team of Hannah Matt and Kayla Scheevel and the No. 5 duo of Shaelyn Perez and Taylor Askins.

Mitchem was named the AVCA 2-Year National Player of the Year for the second straight season last fall for indoor.

Irvine Valley made it to the State Championship by beating both Fullerton and Mira Costa, 5-0, in a regional at Irvine Valley this past Tuesday.

Irvine Valley enters the State Championship event with a record of 12-5 overall after playing a schedule that combined community college and four-year colleges. All five of Irvine Valley's defeats came to four-year schools.

The Lasers won their division of the Orange Empire Conference with a 4-0 record and had three of their four teams advance to the semifinals of the conference finals last week.

Golden West is the second-seeded team in the event.

The Rustlers enter with a record of 13-0 overall and were 5-0 to take their conference title.

Golden West made the State Championship by defeating Orange Coast, 5-0, and Palomar, 3-2, in a regional on Tuesday in Huntington Beach.

Golden West's teams include Jasmine Hogan and Kat Castillo (No. 1), Jess Dominguez and Andrea Gonzales (No. 2), Jacisie Marquez and Gabbi Nguyen (No. 3), Annie Ellis and Alyson Utke (No. 4) and Megan Sanchez and Kelsey Osgood (No. 5).

Grossmont is the third seed and enters Friday's State Championship with a record of 18-1 overall. It won the Pacific Coast Conference with a record of 5-1.

Grossmont, which was a part of the indoor volleyball State Championships last fall, then defeated both Santa Ana and El Camino, 5-0, to move on to this Friday's state sand event.

The Griffins top five teams include Lauren Hays and Lexi Reddick (No. 1), Lindsey Spinning and Megan Angerstein (No. 2), Tiffany Cobain and Brooke Callahan (No. 3), Katie Rademacher and Samantha Griffo (No. 4) and Zoe Smith and Alyssa Cortez (No. 5).

The fourth-seeded squad at the Sand Volleyball State Championship team event is Cabrillo.

Cabrillo finished as the runner-up at the state indoor championships in the fall and won the indoor state title two years ago.

On the sand this season, Cabrillo has a record of 11-1 overall and was 8-0 in the Coast Conference.

Cabrillo's lone loss came to Irvine Valley earlier this season.

Cabrillo won its regional earlier this week with a 5-0 victory over Feather River and then a 4-1 triumph over Foothill.

Cabrillo's teams consist of the No. 1 tandem of Kelsey Shaver and Alexa Rosendale, the No. 2 team of Marcel Frazzoni and Karly DaRosa, the No. 3 team of Madison Borch and Kim Fleming, the No. 4 duo of Helen Milne and Allee Smallwood and the No. 4 team of Maddison Blevins and Danielle Good.

The day after the team state title, the individual state tournament will take place on Saturday, May 2 at 9 a.m. at Irvine Valley.

Three two-player teams will earn individual state titles.

Three eight-team brackets will be played.

The brackets will be made up of the best No. 1 teams from the state, best No. 2 teams from the state and best No. 3 teams from the state.