Ihrig/Vienna fall in 3C2A Beach Volleyball Pairs Finals
WALNUT -- A remarkable run by the Orange Coast College beach volleyball duo of Kayla Ihrig/Sophie Vienna came up just one win shot of its goal as the Pirate sophomore duo lost in the finals of the 2026 3C2A Beach Volleyball Pairs State Championships on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.
Ihrig/Vienna came up just one set short as Fresno City College's Lusa Andrews/Jayla Iversen captured the crown over Ihrig/Vienna, 16-21, 21-15, 15-4, capping off an exhausting three-day run for the Rams duo, who also helped FCC to the team championship on Thursday. In all, Andrews/Iversen had to play 10 matches over three days to take home both the team and pairs state titles. But Ihrig/Vienna made them earn that final pair of gold medals.
Before the state finals, Ihrig/Vienna kicked off Saturday morning with a Round of 16 win, 21-8, 21-12 before topping Long Beach City College's Kyla Jones/Tyreana Allen, 21-19, 21-17 in the quarterfinals, setting up a memorable semifinals matchup against Mira Costa College's Hailey Heflin/Kiara Keibel.
After falling to the Spartans in the opening set, 21-12, Ihrig/Vienna saw a 15-8 lead suddenly evaporate and were staring at match point, trailing 20-19. Vienna kept the season going with a dink-kill over the net the even the score at 20.
Mira Costa had match-point opportunities again at 21-20 and 22-21, only to see the Pirates stay alive. At 21-20, the Spartans had two big swings at the ball to put the match away, but Vienna came up with an incredible dig before Ihrig set her up for another dink to again, tie the score.
With the set tied at 22, Ihrig set a kill attempt to Vienna but the ball happened to clear the net onto the side of the Spartans, who were unable to get the ball back up in the air and just like that, the Pirates had their own set-point opportunity.
After MCC was able to get the ball back on the OCC side of the court, Vienna set Ihrig, who hammered the ball down to give Coast a 24-22 win, forcing a winner-take-all third set. There, both teams battled to an 11-11 tie before OCC grabbed the lead for good. A long Spartan return put Coast in front, 12-11 before another Ihrig kill made it 13-11. Both teams traded points and on match point, a Mira Costa return went wide, giving Ihrig/Vienna an incredible semifinals win and a trip to the finals.
It was just the second time in program history that the Pirates had a duo earn an opportunity for a state championship, joining the pair of Brisa Zepata-Reaves/Corinne Williams, who reached the finals in 2023.
Ihrig/Vienna, playing their seventh match in two days, came out swinging as Ihrig/Vienna showed early energy and pulled away from Andrews/Iversen, taking the opening set, 21-16.
But from there, the Rams' duo found whatever gas was left in their tank and emptied their reserves for the final two sets, winning, 21-15 in the second and 15-4 in the third to capture the title.
