Vialpando & Gonzaga To Represent Riverside in CCCAA Championships This Weekend

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Having one of its pairs reach the quarterfinal round of the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) championships, the inaugural Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers women's beach (sand) volleyball team will be represented at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Championships this weekend.

The CCCAA Championships will be hosted by Grossmont College in El Cajon on Friday-Sunday, May 6-8. The team championships (final four) will be held on Friday, May 6. The pair championships will be held on Saturday-Sunday, May 7-8. 

Last week, the OEC Championships were hosted by Golden West College (GWC) at Newland Court at Huntington Beach last Wednesday (Apr. 27) and at Irvine Valley College (IVC) last Friday (Apr. 29).

RCC's No. 1 pair of frosh Marissa Vialpando (Riverside / Notre Dame HS '15) and frosh Sabrina Gonzaga (Moreno Valley / Citrus Hill HS '14), after receiving a first-round bye, defeated the Irvine Valley pair of Cannon / Blevins (score unknown) to advance to Friday's CCCAA "round of 16."

Vialpando / Gonzaga, seeded No. 15 in the OEC and seeded No. 20 in the state pairs bracket, will face the Bakersfield College tandem of Alyssa Mathews and Sarah Aurin, which is seeded No. 10 in the Western State Conference and seeded No. 13 in the state pairs bracket on Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m.

In other OEC Championships pairs action, RCC frosh Lauren Wells (Corona / Woodcrest HS '15) and frosh Yaleni Fernandez (Riverside / Riverside Christian HS '15) defeated GWC's pair of Cassidy Paperny / Daisy Gonzalez (set scores unavailable) before losing to Boykin and Buede of Orange Coast College (set scores unavailable).

Additionally, Santa Ana College's pair of Kunipo and Nguyen defeated RCC sophomore Melissa Moe (Riverside / Riverside Poly HS '14) and Hailey Krewson (Rancho Cucamonga / Alta Loma HS '12) (set scores unavailable), and GWC's pair of Alison Utke / Kate Stanovich defeated RCC's duo of sophomore Amanda Barker (Lake Arrowhead / Rim of the World HS '14) and sophomore Bethany Walsh (Riverside / Ramona HS '14) (set scores unavailable).

Riverside City (8-6 overall, 2-5, tied for fifth in OEC) was guided by first-year RCC head women's beach volleyball coach Jamie Hofman.

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