BRACKETS ARE SET AFTER STRONG OEC PERFORMANCES

COSTA MESA – The Orange Empire Conference will be well represented at the upcoming 3C2A Women's Tennis State Tournament after several strong performances at last week's OEC Singles and Doubles Tournament, hosted by Orange Coast College.

For the 2026 OEC champs – host Orange Coast College – four Pirate singles players, Mebuki Kitakuni, Kaylee Ho, Chantel Kamel and Ava Bocek, picked up qualifying wins over the past two days to earn a spot at 2026 3C2A Women's Tennis Individuals State Championships, which take place April 23-26 at the Ojai Tennis Center. Kitakuni was the No. 1 seed out of the OEC and needed just one win to quality, which she earned, 6-0, 6-0 against Rio Hondo's Bethany Rosas.

No. 5-seeded Kamel earned a spot in the qualifier finals with a 6-0, 6-0 win, then, topped Fullerton College's Destiny Lopez, 6-3, 6-1, to earn the qualifier spot.

At No. 3, Ho earned a first-round bye before topping Riverside's Fleurdeliz Libutan, 6-2, 6-1. 

No. 7 Bosek played two solid matches, dropping just two games total, winning her first-round match, 6-1, 6-0 before rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 win in the qualifier match.

For doubles play, the Pirates again earned plenty of spots in the state tourney. Kitakuni/Ho automatically earned an Ojai invitation as the No. 1 seed out of the OEC. Fourth-seeded Kamel/Bocek won their qualifier match with an 8-1 victory, the same winning score as OCC's No. 8 seeded duo of Minami Saito/Amanda Montanez.

Conference runners-up, Riverside City College, saw three of its singles players – Angelina Capraro, Julianna Capraro and Victoria Herrera – each earn spots in Ojai.  The second-seeded Herrera earned herself a first-round bye before blanking her opponent, 6-0, 6-0 in her qualifying match.

Fourth-seeded Julianna Capraro earned a pair of 6-0, 6-2 wins in both of her matches to qualify for state, while the sixth-seeded Angelina Capraro won 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round before rolling to a 6-2, 6-1 win in her qualifying match.

Also earning a qualifying spot at state was Mt. San Antonio College's Sichen Chang, who rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 opening round win before upsetting the No. 8 seed in the bracket, 6-3, 6-1 to qualify.

Doubles teams who also qualified for the state tournament included the Caparo sisters from Riverside City College (qualifier bye), Herrera/Brianna Nikas from RCC (8-3), Fullerton College's Amerie Johnson/Destiny Lopez (8-3), FC's Kelley Anne Luz/Giana Morales (8-2) and Rio Hondo's Makayla Glover/Sophia Chavez (8-4).

2026 ALL-OEC TEAM

Story by Tony Altobelli, Orange Coast College