The Cerritos College men's tennis team saw their chance at winning the Southern California Dual Team Championship come to an end with a 5-0 loss to top-seeded Irvine Valley College. It was the second loss this season to the Lasers, who were the only community college team to beat #2-seeded Falcons (24-4) this season. Next up for the team will be the CCCAA State Championships, which will take place Friday through Sunday in Ojai.

Starting with doubles, Cerritos found themselves in trouble early on, as they dropped all three matches. In the #3 match, the tandem of sophomore Agustin Lombardi (E.S.D.S., Argentina) and Mark Antoniuk (W. 124 School, Russia) were locked at 6-6, with a chance to record a crucial team point. But the Lasers team of Kevin Pham and Gavin Lynch won the next  two games to post an 8-6 win.

In another close match, the Falcons top doubles team of freshmen Oleksandr Krasnov (School 106, Ukraine) and Nikita Katsnelson (Odessa Gymnasium No. 1, Ukraine) came up short in an 8-5 decision.

Needing wins in five of the six singles matches to pull off the win, the team took a quick hit when freshman James Zhang (Shenzhen Luohu Foreign Language School, China) suffered a 6-1, 6-3 loss in the #5 match. The day came to an abrupt end when freshman Aleks Trifunovic (Katrinelunds Gymnasium, Sweden) lost, 7-6, 6-2 in the #5 match.

SINGLES

Oleksandr Krasnov (CERR) vs. Sam Cohen (IVC), unfinished
Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) vs. Flavien Raveau (IVC), unfinished
Agustin Lombardi (CERR) vs. Javier Callejo (IVC), unfinished
Octave Bellet (IVC) def. Aleks Trifunovic (CERR), 7-6, 6-2
Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. James Zhang (CERR), 6-1, 6-3
Eliot Dota (CERR) vs. Juan Navarro (IVC), unfinished

DOUBLES

Sam Cohen/Javier Callejo (IVC) def. Oleksandr Krasnov/Nikita Katsnelson (CERR), 8-5
Scott Paz/Burno Figlia (IVC) def. Aleks Trifunovic/James Zhang (CERR), 8-3
Kevin Pham/Gavin Lynch (IVC) def. Agustin Lombardi/Mark Antoniuk (CERR), 8-6