Beach Volleyball: Roadrunners open season with losses at Ventura

The 2018 Rio Hondo College women's beach volleyball season is officially underway. But it didn't start off well for the Roadrunners as they suffered a pair of losses at the Harbor Cove Courts at the Ventura Marina on Friday.

Rio Hondo opened the morning with a narrow 3-2 loss to host Ventura and took a 4-1 defeat from Santa Barbara City College.

Ventura 3, Rio Hondo 2
Rio Hondo got wins from the No. 1 squad of Andrea Velasco and newcomer Madison Mader and from the No. 3 duo of Michell Chavez-Valdivia and Felipa Moreno. Rio Hondo's best chance to win the match came at No. 4 as Bree Newton and Michelle Hawkins extended Ventura's Jordan Neria and Sofia Gomez to three games but couldn't pull out the victory.

1's: 21-18, 21-18 Rio Win Andrea Velasco/Madison Mader
2's: 15-21, 18-21 Ventura Win  Sara Harding/Michelle Rosas
3's: 23-21, 13-21, 15-10 Rio Win Michell Chavez-Valdivia/Felipa Moreno
4's: 21-23, 21-18, 14-16 Ventura Win Bree Newton/Michelle Hawkins
5's: 8-21, 12-21 Ventura Win Madelyn Gastelum/Stephanie Garcia

Santa Barbara City 4, Rio Hondo 1
Velasco and Mader continued their winning ways in the second match of the day for the Roadrunners' lone victory against Santa Barbara City.

1's: 19-21, 22-20, 15-8 Rio Win Andrea Velasco/ Madison Mader
2's: 13-21, 22-20, 4-15 SBCC Win Michell Chavez-Valdivia/ Felipa Moreno
3's: 16-21, 19-21 SBCC Win Sara Harding/Michelle Rosas
4's: 9-21, 15-21 SBCC Win Madelyn Gastelum/Stephanie Garcia
5's: 21-15, 18-21, 8-15 SBCC Win Mia Ponce/Monica Campos

Rio Hondo returns to action on Friday (Feb. 23) at 10 a.m. when the Roadrunners face Santa Ana College and Santa Monica College in matches at the Newland Courts in Huntington Beach.