Golden West College Pairs Shine on Day One of OEC Beach Volleyball Championships

Irvine, Calif. — The Golden West College Rustlers made a strong showing during day one of the 2025 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Beach Volleyball Pairs Championship hosted at Irvine Valley College, with multiple teams advancing into key placement matches after a full day of competitive action.

Leading the way was the top Rustler duo of Hayden Johnston and Maren Matthews, who powered through the opening rounds. Johnson and Matthews started with a dominant 21-14, 21-7 victory over Cypress College's Perez/Jackson. They followed up with another sweep over Santiago Canyon's Smith/Ziglinski 21-11 and 21-12 to advance into Friday's top-4 semifinals.

Also moving through the main draw early was Jenna Zaffino and Cassandra Zoellers, who scored a convincing 21-17, 21-9 win over Saddleback's Johnson/McNamee. Then in the next match fell is straight set to Santiago Canyons duo of Wilson/Willcoxson 21-18, 21-16. They will continue competing in the consolation bracket on Friday for 9th and 10th place place consolation bracket and will battle for a final regional qualifying spot.. 

Meanwhile, Jalissa Costa and Elyse Varipapa made an impressive start, defeating Fullerton's Stotmore/Alvarado 21-15, 21-10 in their opening match. Despite a tough loss in the next match 21-11, 21-14 to Irvine Valley pairs Andersen/Mersin, Costa and Varipapa remain alive in the 9th-10th place consolation bracket and will battle for a final regional qualifying spot.