Last year, Mt. San Jacinto College advanced to the state championship match. But on Tuesday, they were no match for the Cerritos College men's tennis team, who defeated the Eagles, 8-1, and improved to 6-4 on the season. The Falcons will resume South Coast Conference play on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. when they host El Camino College. It will be the first home match for the team in two weeks.

Cerritos swept past the Eagles in the five singles matches they won, while the three doubles teams also won handily. Freshman Nathan Eshmade (Kings Baptist HS, Australia) fought through flu-like symptoms to defeat Gabe De Costa at the top of the singles ladder, 6-1, 6-0, but sat out of doubles play. That moved the other two pairings up, while it allowed sophomore Kevin Wall (Lakewood HS) and Danny Cho (Kennedy HS) to see some action. The pair recorded an 8-2 win in the #3 doubles position.

A quartet of freshmen also won in singles play, with Mathew Espiritu (Long Beach Millikan HS) winning, 6-4, 6-4 in the #3 spot, while Maurice Grijalva (Gardena HS) handed Gerald Chavez a 6-1, 6-3 setback. Julian Avila (Paramount HS) registered a 6-0, 6-1 win in the #5 position, with Gianni Jeong (Cerritos HS) finishing off the team win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Grivalja teamed with sophomore Todd Jenkins (Cabrillo HS) to compete in the #1 doubles spot and responded with an 8-5 win, while Jeong and Avila won, 8-3 after they also moved up one spot in the ladder.

SINGLES

Nathan Eshmade (CERR) def. Gabe De Costa (MSJ), 6-1, 6-0
Bruno Campos (MSJ) def. Todd Jenkins (CERR), 6-2, 6-1
Mathew Espiritu (CERR) def. Leo Matarrazo (MSJ), 6-4, 6-4
Maurice Grijalva (CERR) def. Gerald Chavez (MSJ), 6-1, 6-2
Julian Avila (CERR) def. Hung Dang (MSJ), 6-0, 6-1
Gianni Jeong (CERR) def. Dave Flores (MSJ), 6-3, 6-2

DOUBLES

Todd Jenkins/Maurice Grijalva (CERR) def. Gabe De Costa/Bruno Campos (MSJ), 8-5
Gianni Jeong/Julian Avila (CERR) def. Dave Flores/Leo Matarrazo (MSJ), 8-3
Kevin Wall/Danny Cho (CERR) def. Hung Dang/Gerald Chavez (MSJ), 8-2

Photo by Daryl Peterson