M. Tennis: Cerritos loses in SoCal Regional Semifinals

Sheldon Hseih was one of two Falcons to win in singles against College of the Desert
Sheldon Hseih was one of two Falcons to win in singles against College of the Desert

The Cerritos College men's tennis team was defeated by host College of the Desert, 5-2 on Tuesday in the Southern California Regional Team Playoffs. The Falcons (18-6) were seeded #3 and with the loss, have ended their team play. They will now send three singles players and three doubles team to the the Southern California Regional Tournament, which will take place in Ojai next weekend.

In the loss to the #2-seeded Roadrunners (14-0), the team dropped four of the six singles matches, which meant they would have to sweep all three doubles in order to pull out the team victory. They were leading in the top position, but when the #2 team of Mark Herrera (Bosco Tech HS) and Milos Zoric (Gimnazjia Indijija, Serbia HS) were defeated, 8-2, the match came to a conclusion.

Picking up wins in singles play were sophomore Nathan Eshmade (Kings Baptist, Australia HS) at the top of the ladder, 6-1, 6-0, while freshman Sheldon Hseih (Long Beach Poly HS) earned a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win in the #6 spot. Freshman Amadi Kagoma (Malezi School, Kenya HS), who suffered his first singles loss of the year, dropped his second match in a row, suffering a 2-6, 4-6 loss in the #2 position.

For the Southern California Regional Tournament, Eshmade is seeded #1, while he and Kagoma are the top-seeded doubles team. Kagoma is seeded #9 in singles.

SINGLES

Nathan Eshmade (CERR) def. Zach Lidster (COD), 6-1, 6-0
Felipe Fuentes (COD) def. Amadi Kagoma (CERR), 6-2, 6-4
Pedro Carle (COD) def. Nicholas Simonelli (CERR), 6-4, 6-1
David Bensoussan (COD) def. Mark Herrera (CERR), 6-3, 6-3
Joaquin Zuniga (COD) def. Milos Zoric (CERR), 6-1, 6-1
Sheldon Hseih (CERR) def. Vitor Ogaassawara (COD), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

DOUBLES

Nathan Eshmade/Amadi Kagoma (CERR) led Arthur Castro/David Bensoussan (COD), 4-3 (unfinished)
Zach Lidster/Pedro Carle (COD) def. Mark Herrera/Milos Zoric (CERR), 8-2
Marcelo Rezende/Felipe Fuentes led Nicholas Simonelli/Edgar Munoz (CERR), 6-1 (unfinished)