As a member of the Cerritos College volleyball and beach volleyball teams, sophomore Brisa Cortez (Schurr HS) was an integral part of both programs advancing to the 3C2A State Championships. With the indoor team, Cortez was a 2nd Team All-South Coast Conference selection, while she and pairs partner Nayeli SalasOrtiz were honorable mention selections in beach volleyball.

Cortez will continue her career in both sports at Hope International University, an NAIA college that plays in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

While with the indoor team, Cortez posted 84 kills and hit a .203 percentage, while she added 93 digs, 39 blocks and 20 assists for the Falcons, who won a share of the South Coast Conference and advanced to the 3C2A State Tournament for the first time in 30 years. Although they lost to the #1-team in the state, Fresno City College, they extended them to five sets and even had a pair of match points against the Rams. In that match, Cortez had six kills, while she recorded a season-high eight kills in the first match of the season against College of the Canyons.

"I suppose, Brisa Cortez is one of the hardest working kids I have ever coached," stated former head coach Kari Hemmerling, who recently accepted the Director of Volleyball position at Irvine Valley College. "She is extremely motivated and genuinely LOVES volleyball. There was never a doubt in my mind that she would go on to play at the next level. I am thrilled she will be at Hope International and close enough to keep tabs on in person. Brisa is one of my all-time favorites, because she put in the work, even when things got really hard. Her and Nayeli just always found a way to win (in beach volleyball) and battled through at the end of the beach year and it was a blast to watch."

The duo recorded an overall record of 20-10, which included going 14-5 in the #4 pairs position. They won a thrilling three-set match against Santa Monica College in the Southern California Playoffs to help the Falcons advance to the 3C2A State Championships for the first time in the program's two-year history.

Cortez will be transferring to a Royals team that went 11-13 in indoor play in 2024 and were looking to replace eight players to graduation. As for the beach team, they were 7-18 in dual matches.