Gauchos make playoffs, qualify one pair
The Saddleback beach volleyball team will make its first-ever appearance in the Southern California Regional Tournament this Tuesday at Irvine Valley College. The Gauchos will join San Diego Mesa College and host Irvine Valley in the three-team event.
Saddleback made the 12-team format as the No. 11 seed. They will start round robin play at 11:00 AM at IVC against the host Lasers, and then play San Diego Mesa at 12:00 PM.
The Gauchos were 7-8 overall and 4-4 in Orange Empire Conference play, finishing in fourth place overall and second in the OEC Eastern Division. Irvine Valley won the OEC title and was a perfect 10-0 in conference play. San Diego Mesa finished the regular season 13-12 overall and 6-4 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play (3rd place).
In addition, Saddleback qualified one pair over the weekend for the Southern California Regional Pairs Tournament as Ayla Fresenius and Nickie Hughes garnered the No. 32 seed after finishing 10th at the OEC Championships. They will face the top seed of Ashlee Goycoochea and Alexcis Morris from Grossmont College, who won the PCAC pairs title on Friday in San Diego.