Gauchos bury Vaqueros in the sand

The Saddleback women's beach volleyball team opened the season with a 4-1 victory over Glendale College on Friday at the OC Great Park in Irvine.  The Gauchos won three separate matches in the third set.

With temperatures in the 80's and higher than normal humidity, Saddleback outlasted Glendale in what was a competitive opening match of the season.

Saddleback took a 1-0 lead on court five where Brittany Roberson and Natalia Perales made quick work of their opponents in straight sets (21-16, 21-9).   From that point forward is was a great battle, with all four of the remaining matches going to a third and final game.

Samantha Dougher and Serenity Broome gave Saddleback a 2-0 lead when they edged the team of Madrid and Antolin on court three by a count of 15-9 in the final set.  Glendale quickly bounced back, winning on court two as Cephus and Gohrick edged the Saddleback duo of Ronnie Robinson and Shay Savoie, 15-12, in the third and final game.

The team match ended on court one where Ellie Groh and Julia Brown cruised to a 15-7 win in the final game.  Groh and Brown (pictured) had dropped the opening game and stormed back with a dominating 21-7 win in game two.

Perhaps the closest match of the day was on court four where Savannah Huerta and Kayla Castillo went back and forth with their opponents before finally putting them away.  The Gaucho duo pulled out a 15-11 win as both teams were gassed by the end from the heat and humidity. 

MATCH SCORES:

1's -- Groh & Brown (SC) def. Oberhammer & Ronduen (GC) 18-21, 21-7, 15-7

2's -- Cephus & Gohrick (GC) def. Robinson & Savoie (SC) 21-16, 7-21, 15-12

3's -- Dougher & Broome (SC) def. Madrid & Antolin (GC) 21-13, 9-21, 15-9

4's -- Huerta & Castillo (SC) def. Codding & Robles (GC) 21-19, 16-21, 15-11

5's -- Roberson & Perales (SC) def. Artsvelian & Boodaghyan (GC) 21-16, 21-9