After quick and easy sweeps over the first two opponents of the season, the Warriors were looking to make it easy to improve to 3-0.

However, the Golden West College Rustlers weren’t going to go down easy, even though they already lost.

The El Camino beach volleyball team (3-0) took down GWC in the final match on Friday after downing the Fullerton College Hornets just prior.

The visiting Warriors’ No. 1, 2 and 3 pairs all dominated their respective matches to give themselves the third-straight win to open the season, but the No. 4 and 5 pairs struggled and eventually lost.

“We have a lot of improving to do (going forward),” EC coach Le Valley Pattison said. “When we play an actual match we can see the weaknesses and work on improving them.”

While today’s matches featured a change in a couple of the pairs, compared to last week’s win over Cypress College, the team wasn’t flustered.

Sophomore Michelle Shimamoto and freshman Micah Hammond, who were originally the No. 2 pair, played as the No. 1 pair and took down their Fullerton and Golden West counterparts in quick succession.

“It’s actually a good feeling (for me),” Shimamoto said. “Last year I was on our two’s team and last week I started there, so it’s just a good mix-up and it worked really well for us.”

Shimamoto added that it made them want to compete just a little more.

While sophomores Taylor Brydon and Brooklyn Rubio fell to the No. 2 position, it didn’t bother them, because they were more focused on the win as a team rather than individual pairs.

“Our ones and twos are pretty even,” Brydon said. “We can both be (the No. 1) team, so that says a lot.”

The Warriors went into the Golden West match with two 5-0 sweeps over Cypress and Fullerton, and finished the day 3-0 after a 3-2 win versus Golden West.

“I think (GWC) was pretty good,” Brydon said. “I’d say they were probably the better team that we played (today), but we’re still better than them.”