Snider/Hanks capture OEC Beach Volleyball Pairs championship!
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- It was a Pirate-heavy Final Four for the 2021 Orange Empire Conference Pairs Championships on Friday at the Newland Courts and in the end, the team of Thea Snider and Summer Hanks wrapped up a perfect season with a win in the finals.
With three of the final four teams hailing from Orange Coast College, it was an impressive performance all week from the entire Pirate squad. Snider/Hanks, the top-ranked duo in the tournament, took on fellow Pirate teammates Sara Enright and Alanna Shields, who entered the event as the No. 7 seed. The underdogs reached the championship match after stunning the No. 2 seeded team of Hannah Wilmes and Kenzie Palmer, 21-12, 10-21, 15-10 in the quarterfinals, setting up an All-OCC semifinals showdown.
But in the finals, Snider/Hanks showed everyone who the top duo was for the week and cruised to a 21-14, 21-13 win to capture the OEC title over Enright/Shields.
OCC's other top duo of Joceline Martinez and Lexy Mendoza, the 11th-seeded duo of the event, rolled past sixth-seeded Faith Webb and Chloe Johnson of Fullerton College (21-8, 21-13) in the Round of 16 and then stunned No. 3 seeded Miranda Telles and Alexis Flores from Cypress College (21-14, 21-18) to reach the semifinals. There, they came up short to Enright/Shields, 21-15, 21-17.
On the other side of the bracket, there would be no surprises as Snider/Hanks rolled through the tournament with straight-set wins in all three of their matches to finish their 2021 season a perfect 11-0 overall. Enright/Shields wrapped up a very successful 2021 campaign with a 7-1 record, while Mendoza/Martinez finished with a 7-3 win-loss mark.
Another OCC pair picked up a win in the event as the team of Haley Reid and Rachael Street opened the event with a 21-16, 21-16 win over Courtney Gomez and Karen Salazar from Santa Ana College.
