El Camino Real girls beach volleyball beats Taft to win City Section championship
SANTA MONICA — El Camino Real girls beach volleyball team won its second team championship in three years by beating Taft 2-1 on Monday, and this time the Royals did it with two new and important players.
Sisters Addy Choi and Audrey Choi are the No. 1 pair for El Camino Real and are in their first year of playing SoCal beach volleyball after moving from Texas, but they’ve been playing the sport since they were roughly 10 years old.
“California is definitely the home of beach volleyball,” Addy, a freshman said. “It all started here.”
The two have enjoyed playing on an actual beach as opposed to the sand court behind a restaurant that they sometimes trained on while in Texas. Playing for El Camino Real has also given the sisters a rare chance to play alongside each other.
“My senior season is everything I could’ve asked for,” Audrey, a UC Davis commit, said. “I got to play with my sister, which was special.”
Addy and Audrey won their finals match 2-0 (21-3, 21-5) and the No. 2 pair of Claire Grasteit and Maddy Campus won 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) to clinch the championship.
Taft’s No. 3 pair of Allison Lugardo and Alexa Lugardo beat the Royals’ Niki Ghasemi and Kamelia Tashakor in the third match.
“I knew going into today they would be fine because this is their last hurrah,” ECR head coach Alyssa Lee said. “I knew that as long as they played their game, they would be fine.”
El Camino Real beat Chatsworth to advance to the championship round and Taft, the 2023 champions, defeated Venice to make it to the finals.
The Toreadors were anchored by their No. 1 pair of Nicole Alvarado and Claire Mussell, who was the 2023 City Section Co-Player of the Year for indoor girls volleyball in the fall. Grasteit was the other co-player of the year.
“She’s taken on a leadership role,” Lee said of Grasteit. “One of those go-to players on the team that her teammates can depend on.”
It was the third straight season that the City Section hosted the beach volleyball championships at Santa Monica State Beach. The ocean and the Santa Monica Pier served as the backdrop for the championship matches.
“It’s really amazing,” Audrey said. “It’s the beach, there’s nowhere else I’d want to play.”
Oaks Christian wins CIF-SS championship
Oaks Christian’s girls beach volleyball team beat Capistrano Valley Christian 3-2 on Saturday to win the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title at Long Beach City College.
The Lions beat Long Beach Wilson 3-2 in the semifinals earlier Saturday to secure a spot in the championships. Sophomore Jady Mape didn’t drop a single game to help Oaks Christian secure the title.