Willcoxson and Ostovar advance
The duo will advance to the quarters on Friday and to next week's regional tournament
The 2026 Orange Empire Conference Pairs Tournament started on Wednesday at Irvine Valley College. One pair advanced to the quarterfinals while two others will try to advance through the consolation bracket.
Cori Willcoxson and Kayla Ostovar cruised into the quarterfinals on Wednesday at IVC. The duo received a bye in the opening round after a pair from Fullerton College pulled out of the tournament before it began. Willcoxson and Ostovar then breezed to victory over a pair from Cypress College in winning 21-14, 21-12, to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
Willcoxson and Ostovar were the No. 6 seed in the tournament entering the day. They will face the Cypress duo of Addison Riddle and Kailyn Flores on Friday, who advanced to the quarters with a win over a pair from Golden West (21-15, 21-19). Riddle and Flores were the No. 3 seed entering the tournament.
In addition to advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday, Willcoxson and Ostovar also earned a spot in the regional tournament at El Camino College next week as well as First Team All-Orange Empire Conference status.
Two other pairs from Saddleback will try to battle through the consolation bracket on Friday to advance to next weekend's regional finals. Nicole Hylton and Hannah Ray lost a grueling three-set match in the round of 16 when they came up short in the third set, 15-11. The same happened to Meg Gardner and Keelyn Lopez, who won their opening match before falling in three sets to a pair from Riverside City (21-12, 12-21, 17-15).
The OEC Pairs Tournament resumes on Friday at Irvine Valley.