SANTA CRUZ -- Battling unoptimal weather conditions and an early-morning travel, the Viking 1's pair of freshmen Ava Aviles and Claire Egan lost their opening match before, with their backs against the wall in a double elimination setting, coming out victorious the rest of the way to clinch a spot in the NorCal Final.

The Viking duo received a bye in the opening round, but an upset victory from Monterey Peninsula's Elizabeth Irvin and Lacey Manzano set the two pairs up for their opening match. The Lobo duo took set one, 21-11, before a back-and-forth second set went Monterey Peninsula's way, claiming them a spot as a qualifier while pushing Aviles and Egan to the contenders' bracket.

In that spot, Aviles and Egan faced De Anza's Caetlin Khayatan and Ester Alper. As the rain and wind started to pick up, the two sides went back-and-forth in the first two sets, with each claiming one. But the Vikings took command in the decisive finale, keeping their season alive with a 15-6 takedown.

From there, it was relatively easy sailing for Aviles and Egan. Their next opponent was Hartnell's Abby Walter and Alexia Leleua, and Egan and Aviles dominated the opening set, taking it 21-10. While the second was more of a contender from the Panthers, a 21-17 victory was enough to push Aviles and Egan to a NorCal berth.

Already clinching their spot, the two played a tiebreaker round against MPC's Vera Hojnacki and Hannah Child, defeating them to clinch the 11-seed in the North.