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Saddleback College Athletics

Cats nail down second place

The image is divided into two main sections. On the left is a vertical scoreboard with a white background and red accents. On the right is a photograph of a beach volleyball match in progress. The overall border is a gold and red striped pattern. Scoreboard Details The scoreboard is split into two sections: GAME 1: * Saddleback Bobcats (Red cat logo): 4 Riverside City College Tigers (Orange tiger logo with
Box Score
April 17, 2026

The Saddleback beach volleyball team finished the regular season with a pair of wins against Riverside City College and Irvine Valley College on Friday at Irvine Valley.  With the wins the Bobcats finish in second place in the Orange Empire Conference.

Saddleback opened with a 4-1 victory over Riverside City.  The Bobcats won at the 1's, 2's, 3's and 4's.  Cori Willcoxson and Kayla Ostovar were the first to put up a point when they cruised past Keira Isgar and Danna Deleon at the 2's (21-12, 21-9).  Meg Gardner and Keelyn Lopez made it 2-0 with a 21-16, 21-11 win at the 1's.  Saddleback clinched the team win at the 3's when Hannah Ray and Nicole Hylton (pictured) won in straight sets (21-18, 21-17).  The Bobcats added a point at the end when Kara Lehmenkuler and Eva Gardner won a grueling match at the 4's (21-14, 10-21, 21-19). 

Saddleback had an hour between matches and used the time to gather themselves and get reenergized for a big matchup against rival Irvine Valley in the final match of the day.  The Bobcats used their time wisely, breezing past the Lasers with a 5-0 sweep.  Saddleback won all matches 2-0 with the biggest win coming at the 1's where Meg Gardner and Keelyn Lopez blasted their opponents 21-10, 21-9. 

Saddleback is now 11-7 overall and 11-3 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The second-place finish in conference play ties a program-best finish by the 2019 team back when the OEC had two divisions.  Saddleback did finish the COVID-19 shortened season of 2019 at 4-0 and was in first place when the season was halted due to the virus but has never finished a completed season in first place in conference play.

Saddleback has the Orange Empire Conference Pairs Tournament next Wednesday and Friday at Irvine Valley before finding out if the team qualifies for the Southern California Regional Tournament, which starts on April 28.