Beach volleyball season ends with Irvine Valley’s Earnest/Reinking crowned state champions
Emily Reinking (left) and Hailee Earnest, of Irvine Valley College, sit down and listen to their coach in between set one and two of the championship match at Grossmont on Sunday. Reinking and Earnest were the No. 3 overall seed and beat the No. 4 seed of Cady Francis and Brianna Sizemore in two sets in the finals, 21-15, 21-18. Photo credit: Phil Sidavong
After winning the first set cleanly, the No. 3 overall seed of Emily Reinking and Hailee Earnest found themselves in a 3-9 deficit in the second set.
They were nervous, they had been all tournament, Earnest said. Every team was good from the first round and they worked for every point and every game.
Francis and Sizmore ended up second place in the state after losing to the Reinking/Earnest pair in the beach volleyball state finals on Sunday. Photo credit: Phil Sidavong
Whatever it was they worked on, it did the job in the finals as the pair went on a 7-2 run to trail 10-11 going into the technical timeout.
Their opponents, No. 4 seed Cady Francis and Brianna Sizemore of MiraCosta, lost their lead, and seemed to be faking their composure on the court.
In the end, only one team can be the champion, and Reinking and Earnest took down Costa’s pair in two sets (21-15, 21-18).
The win also concluded an undefeated weekend for the IVC duo who didn’t lose a single set against any opponent, no matter the seed.
“I’m super excited,” Reinking said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I’m glad we were on the winning end today.”
With Grossmont College winning the team’s tournament on Friday, IVC could not be back-to-back champs, but the Reinking/Earnest duo takes the individual pairs championship back to Irvine Valley.
The crowning of the champions also marks the end of the beach volleyball season for community colleges in California, and some players are sad to see it go.
“I can’t believe I’m not going to play until next year,” Jewel Yandall, El Camino beach volleyball player, said. “That’s like a whole semester (that I don’t do anything).”
In the end, the Warriors advanced the most pairs to the state tournament, but three of the four pairs were knocked out in the first round, while Nickeisha Williams and Michelle Shimamoto were done in the round of 16.
“It was a good run,” Shimamoto said. “I had the privilege of playing with (Williams). We both came a long way (to get here).”
For a complete bracket, click here.
