In just their second year of competition, the Cerritos College beach volleyball team has qualified for the 3C2A Team State Championships. The Falcons (16-8), who were seeded #10 for the SoCal Championships, opened with a 4-1 upset win over #2-seeded Santa Monica College, but then suffered a 3-2 loss to #7-seeded Grossmont College. But when Santa Monica defeated the Griffins, 4-1, Cerritos advanced due to the win total tie-breaker.

Following in the footsteps of the indoor team that advanced to the state tournament for the first time in 30 years, Cerritos used a pair of critical third-set wins to secure not only the team victory over the host Corsairs, but their berth in the state tournament.

After #4 pair Abby Gutierrez (Downey HS) and Aiyana Sierra (La Mirada HS) came away with a 22-20 and 21-18 win, the #5 tandem of Herlinda Casanova (St. Joseph HS) and Juliette Casillas (La Serna HS) finished off their 21-19, 21-17 win to secure two of the team points. 

In the first meeting, the Falcons dropped a 5-0 decision to Santa Monica with two of the matches going to a third set. This time, #2 Monserrat Rodriguez (Gahr HS) and Rosie Cazares-Gonzalez (El Rancho HS) prevailed in an 18-21, 21-15, 15-5 comeback win, while the deciding win came in the #3 match. Brisa Cortez (Schurr HS) and Nayeli SalasOrtiz (Schurr HS) also dropped the first set in their match, but came back for a 15-21, 21-19, 15-13 win in thrilling fashion.

It was Rodriguez and Cazares-Gonzalez, along with Cortez and SalasOrtiz who scored the team's two points against Grossmont. Both went three sets, with Rodriguez and Cazares-Gonzalez recording a 20-22, 21-17, 17-15 win, with Cortez and Ortiz finishing with a 21-15, 10-21, 15-13 victory.

The team will compete in the team state championships on May 8 at Long Beach City College.