From high school to college, they’ve been one step short of the goal.

Last semester they failed to reach the state tournament for indoor volleyball, and just this past week, the El Camino beach volleyball team couldn’t muster up the necessary energy to get to El Cajon (site of the state team’s championship).

But Jewel Yandall and Nickeisha Williams, sophomores, have known each other since high school, and Yandall said that she doesn’t know anyone else who wants to win more.

Yandall and freshman partner Brooklyn Rubio are the No. 25 seed, while Williams and sophomore partner Michelle Shimamoto are the No. 1 overall seed. If both pairs win two matches, they would play each other in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

“I’m not at all less confident about being seeded No. 25 because we proved ourselves at the (WSC tournament),” Yandall said. “It sucks that we’re in the same bracket. I wouldn’t want to play against my own team, especially knowing (Williams). But it is what it is and we’ll see what happens.”

While on the other side of the bracket, sophomore Brooke Russell and freshman Taylor Brydon will have the luxury of not having any El Camino team in their bracket and being the No. 6 overall seed.

“It feels pretty good, we’ve worked really hard this season,” Russell said. “We had to play (our teammates at) the last tournament and that was fine, but I would just rather not play (them).”

Here is the individual pairs state tournament bracket (left side):

• El Camino’s Nickeisha Williams and Michelle Shimamoto have earned the No. 1 overall seed after winning the Western State Conference individual pairs’ championship. The pair will play No. 32 Alyson Utke and Kate Stanjevich of Golden West.
• While Brooklyn Rubio and Jewel Yandall, who made it the semifinals of the WSC tournament, will be the No. 25 seed at the state tournament. The pair will play No. 8 Alejandra Rademacher and Katie Puga of Grossmont.
• Laynie Thompson and Sadie Fraker who made it to the semifinals of the WSC tournament will be the No. 12 overall seed. The pair will play the No. 21 seed of Carlee Roethlisberger and Hannah Matt of Irvine Valley.

Right side:

• This side features the only pair from El Camino who would not meet their teammates unless it was in the finals. Brooke Russell and Taylor Brydon claimed second place at the WSC tournament after falling to the Williams/Shimamoto pair in the finals. The pair is the No. 6 overall seed and will play No. 27 Breanna Kirklen and Kyra Henderson of MiraCosta.

For live updates and scores of the games on Saturday (and potentially Sunday), follow @ECCUnionPhil and check the #ECBVBall on Twitter.

*Note: Seedings and brackets were researched and acquired through the California Community College Athletic Association’s brackets on its website. But The Union’s beat reporter made his own brackets (seen above) and will be updating them on-site as the teams advance or fall.*