Two Warriors Pairs Advance to Semifinals of Conference Championships

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College had two pairs make it to the end of day one of the South Coast Conference Pairs Championships on Friday at the ECC Sand Courts.

The duo of Tate Mercer and Aireon Scott along with the Warriors' top team of Erica Griffiths and Scheala Nielsen both advanced to day two of the winner's bracket. As a result, both teams automatically qualified for the 3C2A Southern California Pairs Regionals, which will be held on May 2-3 at Mount San Antonio College.

Scott and Mercer entered the day as the No. 9 seed of the championships and had to play three times on Friday. They opened the morning with a sweep (21-12, 21-7) of No. 24 Natalie Fabian and Brianna Fabian of College of the Desert.

In the next round, the Warriors' duo swept No. 20 seed Abigail Gutierrez and Aiyana Sierra of Cerritos (21-15, 21-10).

The duo would then mount an upset in the quarterfinals to finish the day a perfect 3-0 as they defeated No. 4 seeded Mikayla Curry and Kaylani Moncada of Long Beach, winning that match in straight sets (21-7, 21-18) to advance to the conference semifinals and lock down the automatic bid to regionals.

Meanwhile, Griffiths and Nielsen entered the day as the No. 2 overall seed in the championships and had a bye in the first round. They would open their day approximately two hours after the competition began, taking on No. 15 seeded Claire Thomas and Itzel Solorio of College of the Desert in match 17 of the day. The Warriors' duo had a fight on their hands early but managed to win in a sweep (25-23, 21-13) to advance to the quarterfinals.

In the quarters, the Warriors' No. 1 pairs team this season faced off against No. 10 seeded Brisa Cortez and Nayeli Salas Ortiz of Cerritos. It was another tight contest but the Warriors again won in two sets (21-19, 21-19) to advance to Saturday's semifinals and gain the automatic berth into the 3C2A Regionals.

They will take on No. 6 seed Enaya Vaielua and Tyreana Allen of Long Beach City in one semifinal while Mercer and Scott take on No. 1 overall seed Candace Ceballos and Madeline Castillo in the other semifinal.

The Warriors did have three other pairs in the tournament as Payton Garrison and Perla Lopez were the No. 13 seed and Madelyn Hancock and Alyssa Estrada drew the No. 18 seed, but both pairs fell in round one. Zoe Lekan and Zariah Honeycutt drew the No. 16 seed and won their first round match over No. 17 Herlinda Casanova and Juliette Casillas of Cerritos (21-19, 13-21, 15-10) but would fall in the round of 16 against the No. 1 seeded pair of Ceballos and Castillo (21-14, 21-12). 

The final day of the SCC Pairs Championships will begin on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with a champion being crowned along with other regional bids at stake in the consolation bracket.