Snider/Hanks Win OEC Pairs Championship

It was an Orange Coast-heavy Final Four for the 2021 Orange Empire Conference Women's Beach Volleyball Pairs Championships last week at the Newland Courts in Huntington Beach.

And in the end, the team of Thea Snider and Summer Hanks wrapped up a perfect season with a win in the final for the Pirates.

With three of the final four teams hailing from Orange Coast, it was an impressive performance all week from the entire Pirate squad, which finished tied for second in the team standings during the regular season.

Snider/Hanks, the top-ranked duo in the tournament, took on fellow Pirate teammates Sara Enright and Alanna Shields in the final.

Enright and Shields entered the event as the No. 7 seed, but the underdog duo moved on to reach the championship match after stunning the No. 2 seeded team of Hannah Wilmes and Kenzie Palmer of Fullerton, 21-12, 10-21, 15-10 in the quarterfinals and some fellow teammates in the semis.

But in the final, Snider/Hanks showed everyone who the top team on the sand was this season, cruising 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 (21-8, 21-13) in the Round of 16 and then stunned No. 3 seeded Miranda Telles and Alexis Flores from Cypress (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. 

Snider and Hanks defeated 11th-seeded Hailey Vargas and Samantha Swanson, 21-13, 21-8, to move on to the final and ultimately grab the title.

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. 

The beach championships wrapped up the 2021 OEC season. Fullerton captured its first conference team title two weeks ago with a perfect record of 9-0.