Nielsen, Griffiths Adavance to Round of 16 at State Championships

LONG BEACH, Calif. --- Scheala Nielsen and Erica Griffiths advanced to the round of 16 after Thursday's action at the 3C2A Pairs State Championships hosted at Long Beach City College.

The Warriors' top duo during the regular season entered the weekend as the No. 16 seed from the South and were the lowest seed in their pool, but they pulled out two wins on Thursday to place second in Pool 3 to advance to Saturday's action.

In their first match of the day, Nielsen and Griffiths downed Lindsey Timm and Kayla Smith of Monterey Peninsula, the No. 5 seed from the North. The match went the distance but the Warriors pulled it out 21-19, 19-21, 15-8 for their first win of the day.

The Warriors went 1-1 after falling to the team of Emma Bambe and Janell Spires of Palomar, the No. 3 seed from the South. It was another three-set thriller but the Warriors came up short 16-21, 26-24, 15-10.

The stage was set for the Warriors as they took on a familiar foe in the last match of pool play in the team of Mikayla Curry and Kaylani Moncada of Long Beach City, the No. 11 seed from the South. But the LBCC team could not compete as the Warriors scored a win by forfeit to go 2-1 in pool play and take second place in Pool 3 to advance to Saturday's round of 16.

The Warriors will face Shai Daniels and Viola Barrios of Ventura, the No. 4 seed from the South. The duo swept through Pool 4 to advance to Saturday. The match is set for 11 a.m.

Tate Mercer and Aireon Scott also made the trip to the state championships as the No. 7 seed from the South but they went 0-3 in Pool 7 play on Friday morning. They suffered losses to Daysha Halbert and Kiara Keibel of MiraCosta (S17; 21-14, 21-8), Sophie Ehret and Francesca Zanotti (N10; 21-11, 21-14) and Paige Skinner and Lainey Black of Sierra College (N2; 21-14, 21-14).