Cats open on a high note

The Saddleback beach volleyball team opened the 2025 season with a pair of 3-1 wins over San Diego City College and Glendale College on Friday at the Great Park in Irvine. The Bobcats overcame a short roster to turn back the Knights and Vaqueros.

Saddleback had just three sets of pairs heading into the match, so they were down 0-1 to start and needing to win all three remaining matches in order to pick up the team win.  The Bobcats did just that, cruising past the Knights to win the season-opener.

Saddleback sent out Meg Gardner and Cori Willcoxson on court No. 1 and the duo opened the scoring for the Cats with a 21-12, 21-19 win over Allison Wygal and Cassie Stephens. 

Delaney Wilson and Tatiana Kringel then came away with a 21-15, 21-16 win on court two against Kailey Vecchia and Danna Gallardo.

The team match came down to court three where Carolina McNamee and Sara Johnson took the court for the Bobcats.  The duo won the opening set 21-16 before going deep into the second set for a 23-21 victory.

Saddleback then took on Glendale  in the final match of the day and had the same scenario.  Saddleback had just three pairs and had to forfeit match four due to a lack of players.  For a second straight time, the squad won all three matches played and walked away with a team win.  

Gardner and Willcoxson were 21-11, 21-13 winners on court one.  Wilson and Kringel pulled away for a 21-17, 21-14 win on court two.  McNamee and Johnson (below) were dominant on court three, winning 21-7, 21-14.

Saddleback is 2-0 to start the 2025 campaign.