Beach Volleyball: Oronoz, Lee advance to SoCal Regional Pairs tournament

LONG BEACH – The Rio Hondo College duo of freshmen Nadine Oronoz and Faith Lee have qualified for the Southern California Regional Pairs Championships thanks to a seventh-place finish at the South Coast Conference Championships over the weekend.

The pair compiled a 3-2 overall record over the two-day event that wrapped up on Saturday at the campus of Long Beach City College. The feat is especially impressive considering the two are newcomers to the sport and just started playing beach volleyball in January. 

"Despite Nadine and Faith being new to the sport of beach volleyball, it is impressive to see them elevate their game in a short span of time," said Rio Hondo head coach Teddi Esko. "They have accomplished so much this season, due to their natural athletic ability, mental determination, and love of the game. Our coaching staff is very proud of the hard work and success they have had all season. Earning a spot in the Southern California Regionals is well deserved."

Oronoz and Lee, seeded No. 8 for the tournament, opened play on Friday with a 21-19, 22-20 win over No. 25-seed Nofo Selu and Athina Sarreas of El Camino College. They followed that with a 9-21, 21-13, 15-10 come-from-behind victory against No. 9-seed Riley DeGroot and Allison Whiteman from Mt. San Antonio College.

The duo finally suffered their first setback, a 21-9, 21-8 loss to No. 1-seeded and eventual tournament champions Lauren McCarthy and Fayth Rascon of El Camino in the quarterfinals. That was followed by another loss, this time to No. 5-seed Kyrsti Photias and Katie Tiegan from College of the Desert (21-14, 21-18).

But with the regional berth on the line, Oronoz and Lee battled to defeat El Camino No. 10-seed Diana Enriquez and Emily Uhrinak by scores of 21-9, 14-21, 17-15 in the seventh-place match.

Oronoz and Lee will next compete at the Southern California Regionals on May 6-7 at El Camino College. They are seeded No. 26 for the tourney and are scheduled to face No. 7-seed Jaclyn Sanchez and Emily Guenter of Irvine Valley College in an opening-round match. Sanchez and Guenter were the top seeds at last week's Orange Empire Conference tournament.

Three other duos competed for Rio Hondo at the SCC Championships but did not advance.

The No. 21-seeded pair of Denisse Sanchez and Deidamia Challapa picked up a 21-4, 21-6 first-round, upset-win over Victor Valley College No. 12-seed Karla Diaz and Jacelyn Berentis. But Sanchez and Challapa suffered a 21-10, 21-17 loss to Photias and Tiegen of COD in Round 2.

No. 11 Ariel Garcia and Faith Wada dropped their opening match to No. 22 Arnold/Rhodes of Mt. SAC (21-17, 16-21, 15-10) while No. 28 Shannen Ferraren and Leanet Fandino fell to COD's Photias and Tiegen (21-6, 21-8).

Faith Wada #2, Nadine Oronoz #4