SANTA CRUZ — It wasn’t really a matter of “if.”
And the matter of “when” took a little longer than expected.
With an hour-and-a-half break between matches, Cabrillo College was forced to wait around on the cool Main Beach sands to punch its ticket to the CCCAA beach volleyball state championships.
Some players lounged.
A couple napped.
Others snacked.
“I ate a lot of food,” said Cabrillo sophomore Alena Fernandez. “It happens.”
Clear eyes, full stomachs, can’t lose.
The long layover did little to slow Cabrillo down on Wednesday, as the Seahawks plowed through Foothill College and West Valley College to return to the state tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.
The undefeated Coast Conference champions continued their dominance over Northern California by blanking Foothill, 5-0, and nearly shutting out West Valley, 4-1, to push their win streak to 10 matches.
The confidence level heading into next week’s state tournament at West Valley is at an all-time high, but the nerves still linger for the Seahawks (13-1, 7-0), who have not seen a single opponent from Southern California this season.
“It’s an unknown,” said Cabrillo head coach Lucas Bol. “We’re playing good volleyball, we like our ladder, we’re feeling good, but as far as gauging NorCal and SoCal, it’s hard to say at this point.”
If they play like they did on Wednesday, the Seahawks will at the very least have a chance at winning their first-ever state title.
The duos of (No. 1) Mari Molina and Alex Bol, (No. 3) Paige Schieferstein and Kylie Kvam, (No. 4) Kendra Lis and Fernandez and (No. 5) Jolie Samuelson and Ellie Cary all cruised to victories in both matches.
Molina-Bol scored wins of 21-10, 21-11 and 21-13, 21-13.
Schieferstein-Kvam notched wins of 21-14, 21-15 and 21-10, 21-19.
Lis-Fernandez coasted to wins of 21-11, 21-12 and 21-17, 21-14.
Samuelson-Cary effortlessly recorded victories of 21-9, 21-15 and 22-20, 21-12.
In the No. 2 slot, Hayley Hall and Deirdre Wilson easily won their match against Foothill, 21-14, 21-9, but couldn’t overcome West Valley’s resurgent team of Morgan Wright and Kaylin Henderson and fell 19-21, 21-18, 15-10.
That was the lone ounce of adversity Cabrillo dealt with all day.
“I think our team deserves to go to state because we’ve put in the work,” said Molina, who recently signed with NCAA Division I Long Beach State. “Hopefully, it’ll show at state and we can win a state title. That would be awesome.”
Along with an undefeated conference season, Cabrillo posted a near-perfect regular season. The Seahawks’ lone loss came on March 9 against Sierra College, which thumped Gavilan College, 4-1, and Feather River College, 4-1, on Wednesday to join Cabrillo at state.
Cabrillo would welcome the rematch come Thursday.
“We’re a different team now,” Fernandez said. “There’s a lot of competition out here and it just makes you that much better. You just want to go after it.”
MiraCosta College will make the drive up to Saratoga to defend its state title from a year ago. Irvine Valley College, Long Beach City College and Moorpark College will also compete in the team tournament.
The Seahawks will also have three pairs competing today in the regional pairs tournament at West Valley for a spot in the state pairs tournament, which starts a day after the team tournament.
The twosomes of Molina-Bol, Hall-Wilson and Lis-Fernandez will all be in action.
Since joining forces in late March, Molina and Bol have not lost while playing in the No. 1 slot.
Lis and Fernandez have lost only once this season while playing at No. 4.
There could be some Seahawks vs. Seahawks action to determine state berths.
“That’s so scary,” Molina said. “I love my teammates. I don’t want to play against any of them. If we do, it’s going to be toward the end of the day, so hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”
