Johnston and Matthews Finish Third at OEC Pairs Championships

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The Golden West College Rustlers capped a strong two-day performance at the 2025 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Beach Volleyball Pairs Championship with standout finishes, including a third-place medal by the team of Hayden Johnston and Maren Matthews and a top-10 finish by Jenna Zaffino and Cass Zoellers.

At the heart of the Rustlers' success was the No. 1 duo of Johnston and Matthews, who opened day two by defeating Santiago Canyon's Wilson/Willcoxson in the quarterfinals, 21-16, 21-9. In the semifinals, they battled eventual conference champions Packer/Ihrig of Orange Coast College, narrowly falling 21-9, 22-20 in a tightly contested second set. Johnston and Matthews bounced back to close the day strong, capturing third place with a straight-set win over Santiago Canyon's Riedel/Cline.

Meanwhile, Zaffino and Zoellers pieced together a flawless day two run through the 9th–10th place bracket. They started by sweeping Santiago Canyon's Smith/Ziglinski, 21-12, 21-10, and then outlasted Cypress College's Flores/Ziegler in a thrilling three-set match, 21-15, 17-21, 15-8. They finished their day with a sweep over Orange Coast College's Saveri/Hopkins, 21-18, 21-15, to clinch 9th place overall in the championship standings.

Also advancing into day two was the Rustlers' pairing of Jalissa Costa and Elyse Varipapa, who made an early statement by taking down Riverside City College's No. 1 duo, Myers/Chaffee, 21-14, 21-14. Their strong run came to an end in the next round against Orange Coast's Saveri/Hopkins.