The Rio Hondo College women's beach volleyball team held the difficult task of facing two of the state top teams on Friday and suffered 5-0 losses to defending state champion Mira Costa College and state finalist Long Beach City College.
But the Roadrunners didn't go down without a fight. Against Mira Costa, the No. 5 team of Michelle Hawkins and Bree Newton battled in their opening set before falling by a marathon score of 32-30.
And vs. Long Beach, Rio Hondo's No. 1 team of Andrea Velasco and Madison Mader as well as the No. 2 duo of Sara Harding and Michelle Rosas stunned their opponents with opening-set wins. Unfortunately they couldn't pull off the upset and both fell in three.
Rio Hondo is now 6-8 overall and 0-3 in South Coast Conference play as they head into next week's matches on April 6 against Golden West and El Camino colleges.
Results from both matches below:
Mira Costa 5, Rio Hondo 0
No. 1: Chloe Tripp/Claire Kinder (MC) def. Andrea Velasco/Madison Mader (RHC) 21-10, 21-18
No. 2: Michelle Mason/Claudia Matthews (MC) def. Sara Harding/Michelle Rosas (RHC) 21-18, 21-16
No. 3: Lena Salazar/Celia MacDonald (MC) def. Natalie Magallon/Michell Chavez-Valdivia (RHC) 21-7, 21-14
No. 4: Madison Anderson/Violetli Faleumu (MC) def. Felipa Moreno/Stephanie Garcia (RHC) 21-8, 21-6
No. 5: Madison Meukow/Halie Hess (MC) def. Michelle Hawkins/Bree Newton (RHC) 32-30, 21-12
Long Beach 5, Rio Hondo 0
No. 1: Sierra Davis/Josannah Vasquez (LBCC) def. Andrea Velasco/Madison Mader (RHC) 18-2, 21-11, 15-9
No. 2: Jordan Diaz/Taty Umi (LBCC) def. Sara Harding/Michelle Rosas (RHC) 19-21, 21-17, 15-7
No. 3: Jessica Kaeka/Brooklin Mize (LBCC) def. Natalie Magallon/Michell Chavez-Valdivia (RHC) 21-10, 21-14
No. 4: Isabella Alvarez/Doris Woods (LBCC) def. Felipa Moreno/Stephanie Garcia (RHC) 21-13, 21-9
No. 5: Elsa Woods/Marian Clausen (LBCC) def. Michelle Hawkins/Bree Newton (RHC) 21-12, 21-11