HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - The Santa Ana College Beach Volleyball team opened the 2023 season by hosting the Rio Hondo Roadrunners (4-0) and the San Diego City Knights (0-2) at the Huntington Beach Newland Courts on Friday morning. 

Santa Ana finished the day 1-1 as they fell to the Roadrunners by a score of 5-0 and then recovered with a 5-0 shutout over San Diego City. 

Matilde Teixeira and Ines Lopes started off their day with a 21-16, 21-13 loss to Rio Hondo's number one team. But the pair from Portugal bounced back in their next match to defeat the top team from SDCC by a score of  21-12, 21-14. 

At the No. 2 slot, Kaiden Raif and Tallie Twyman fell just short in against a pair from RHC (21-18, 22-20) before earning their first win of the year with a 21-11, 21-19 victory. 

Laisha Hochstrasser and Kassandra Zavala split their matches with a 21-7, 21-17 loss followed by a dramatic 3-2 (21-23, 21-15, 15-8) win over the No. 3 pair from SDCC. 

The No. 4 pair for the Dons was Roxanne Costello and Chelsea Asciak. The duo dropped their first match 21-13, 21-6 before finishing the day with a 21-9, 21-14 win. 

In their one opportunity to play on Friday, Lily Chavez and Jenna Hoppe fell to the No. 5 pair from RHC by a score of 21-11, 21-8. They also picked up a forfeit win as SDCC failed to present a team. 

Santa Ana will continue its season on Wednesday when they travel to El Camino (5-0) to take on the undefeated Warriors at noon.