In the semi-finals of the Southern California Team Playoffs on Tuesday, the Cerritos College men's tennis team fell victim to injuries, which resulted in a 5-1 loss. The Falcons (20-6), who were seeded #4, were defeated by #2-seeded College of the Desert, who also handed the team a loss one week earlier.
Cerritos battled the entire match and were leading in two of the three unfinished singles competitions, with the other starting to swing in their direction. In the top doubles match, sophomore Amadi Kagoma (Malezi School, Kenya) was asked to cover most of the court due to the injuries of freshman Antonio Torrebella-Clark (Cypress HS). They fought as long as possible, but came up short, 9-7. The injuries to Torrebella-Clark proved to be too much, and he was forced to retire to Sam Cohen, although he was leading, 2-1 in the first set.
Riding the momentum of winning the South Coast Conference doubles championship, the pair of freshmen Mark Antoniuk (W. 124 School, Russia) and Agustin Lombardi (E.S.O.S., Argentina) posted a thrilling 8-6 win. Even Mathieu David (Nimes, France) and Milos Zoric (Gimnazjia Indija, Serbia) were in a battle halfway into their match, but ended up dropping an 8-4 score.
Kagoma was leading his #1 singles match, 6-4, 3-4 at the time the Roadrunners earned their fifth team point, which secured the victory. Lombardi (6-4, 4-1) was also on his way to a win, with freshman Henry Ayesiga (Malezi School, Kenya) coming back strong against Pedro Carle in the #5 position, 4-6, 5-3 and was on the verge of requiring a third set.
DOUBLES
David Bensoussan/Pedro Carle (COD) def. Amadi Kagoma/Antonio Torrebella-Clark (CERR), 9-7
Mark Antoniuk/Agustin Lombardi (CERR) def. Felipe Fuentes/Shimon Murakami (COD), 8-6
Sam Cohen/Pablo Blasco/Torres (COD) def. Mathieu David/Milos Zoric (CERR), 8-4
SINGLES
Amadi Kagoma (CERR) led David Bensoussan (COD), 6-4, 3-4 (unfinished)
Sam Cohen (COD) def. Antonio Torrebella-Clark (CERR), 1-2 (retired)
Felipe Fuentes (COD) def. Mark Antoniuk (CERR), 6-2, 6-2
Agustin Lombardi (CERR) led Shimon Murakami (COD), 6-4, 4-1 (unfinished)
Pedro Carle (COD) led Henry Ayesiga (CERR), 6-4, 3-5 (unfinished)
Pablo Blasco/Torres (COD) def. Mathieu David (CERR), 6-3, 6-3