Nielsen and Griffiths Eliminated in Round of 16
LONG BEACH, Calif. --- Scheala Nielsen and Erica Griffiths suffered a 21-12, 21-13 loss in the round of 16 at the 3C2A Pairs State Championships on Saturday at Long Beach City College.
The duo took on the pair of Shai Daniels and Viola Barrios of Ventura College, who went undefeated to win pool 4 on Friday.
The first set was close early but the pair from Ventura pulled away late to take the 1-0 lead.
In the second set, Griffiths and Nielsen held firm early and led 9-8 at one point. But Barrios and Daniels scored the final seven points of the set with a couple of service aces to clinch the match and eliminate the Warriors' top pair during the regular season.
Griffiths and Nielsen became the second straight duo to advance to the round of 16 for the Warriors and the fourth team in the last five seasons to accomplish the feat. The Warriors have not had a team advance past the round of 16 since 2018 when Phina Leilua and Aiko Waters finished fifth overall at the state championships.
