After a hot day of pool play in Irvine Friday, VC's beach volleyball duo of Savannah Marchese and Averi Carter advanced to Saturdays' Sweet 16 in the CCCAA State Pairs Tournament. The pair won two matches and dropped another to place second in their pool of four teams, moving on to Saturday's finals. Meanwhile Alexis Baloyo and Amelie Zubia along with Amaris Garcia and Katey Mulville also competed, making VC's strongest appearance since 2017 at the state pairs championships.
Playing in the morning wave, Marchese and Carter took advantage of the cooler temperatures. Seeded No. 8 from Southern California, the pair had a nice 2-1 win in the opener against the SoCal No. 19 seed before sweeping Northern California's No. 9 team from Sierra. They closed the day with a 2-0 loss to NorCal's No. 1 duo from West Valley College, but their spot in Saturday's elimination tournament had been secured.
In one afternoon wave, Baloyo and Zubia, seeded No. 13 from SoCal, met stiff competition. They first played SoCal's No. 5 pair from Grossmont, falling 2-0 before dropping a decision to the NorCal No. 4 team from Cabrillo. They finished the tournament with a 2-0 setback to another Cabrillo pari, NorCal's No. 12 seed.
Meanwhile, Garcia and Mulville had their own battles in the afternoon. Southern California's 11th-seeded pair began with a 2-0 loss to the SoCal No. 3 seed from Cypress before falling 2-0 to NorCal's No. 6 team from Monterey Peninsula. In their season finale, they dropped a 2-0 outcome to SoCal's No. 16 team from team state champion Irvine Valley.
The three teams participating in the state championships for Ventura marks the Pirates' best year since 2017 when they sent four pairs to state in the sport's third year of existence. VC also has one team in the state pairs tournament in 2016 and 2019.
Marchese and Carter will play their Round of 16 match on Saturday May 14 beginning at 10:00 am at Irvine Valley College.