The Irvine Valley women's beach volleyball pair of Jaclyn Sanchez and Emily Guenter helped the Lasers win a state team championship on Thursday of the first day of the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships on the Laser beach courts.
The duo fought throughout Friday to move on and reach the Saturday round of 16.
In the round of 16, Sanchez and Guenter defeated the Cabrillo team of Shirley Morrison and Carly Ditz, 21-13, 23-21.
But, Sanchez and Guenter fell in the quarterfinals to the Sierra team of Natalie Taggart and Corinne Williams, 21-19, 25-23, in a back and fourth contest.
"I am so proud of those two," Irvine Valley coach Tom Pestolesi said of Sanchez and Guenter. "They gave it all they had."
Santa Barbara City's team of Emma Crabbe and Kelissa Lemoine capped a pretty perfect season on Saturday by winning the program's first California Community College Athletic Association Pairs State Championship.
Crabbe and Lemoine, seeded 13th, got on a roll in the event on the Laser beach courts and defeated the top team from the North, West Valley's Katie Kishton and Flor Porras, 21-15, 21-18 in the state final in the late afternoon on a hot day at Irvine Valley.
The Santa Barbara City duo lost just one set in four wins on the final day of the two-day pairs event.
Crabbe and Lemoine defeated Savannah Marchese and Averi Carter of Ventura, 21-13, 21-13, in the round of 16 to start Saturday.
The pair held on to beat Cypress' Tainea Allen and Jordon Wilson of Cypress, 21-14, 15-21,15-12, in the quarterfinals and then defeated Grossmont's Alexcis Morris and Madison Bogle, 21-16, 21-18, to get into the final.
West Valley's Kishton and Porras, who won the Northern California Regional a week earlier and played solid throughout this weekend's tournament, had to get through two three-set matches and a tough sweep to reach the title contest.
The Viking pair beat Sierra's Natalie Taggart and Corinne Williams, 21-19, 25-23, to get into the final.
Santa Barbara City's pair took control of the final midway through the first set. The Vaqueros used a 6-1 run to move in front and a 16-11 lead.
A kill by Crabbe gave the Vaqueros a 19-13 advantage and the Vaqs never looked back. Another kill by Crabbe ended the set at 21-15.
"This game and this week, we really worked hard to prepare and figured out what we needed to do better," Crabbe said. "All of the teams were solid. Every game you are going to play here is going to be a really good game. It comes down to whether you can execute the things you have talked about. We were prepared."
The second set was tight early. West Valley went ahead, 4-3, on a kill by Kishton.
But Santa Barbara City kept playing tough. The Vaqueros took a 6-5 lead on a tip kill by Lemoine and never trailed again.
The Lemoine score was part of a 5-1 run that put Santa Barbara City up, 9-5.
West Valley got within a point on several occasions in the second set, but it was never enough.
A kill by Crabbe got Santa Barbara City to match point and three points later a net violation by West Valley ended things.
"We have been working extra hard to get ready for this and it paid off," Lemoine said. "I trust her (Crabbe) and we have both put in so much work together. I haven't played with anyone that I've bonded with so much and fought so hard with. That made it happen. We worked hard and deserved this."
"Our chemistry is good," Crabbe added about playing with Lemoine. "We are thankful to have really good coaches on our side. And our hustle is what makes us stand out. We never, ever give up."
