For the second match in a row, the Cerritos College men's tennis team recorded a shutout without surrendering a set. On Thursday, the Falcons (2-0) posted a 9-0 win over host Los Angeles Pierce College and will compete the next two days in a row against NCAA Division III and Division II competition. The team will travel to take on DIII Whittier College on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in a homecoming for new head coach Quinn Caldaron, who spent the last two seasons as the Poets head coach.
Earning two team points due to the shortage of players by the Brahmas, the Falcons lost just one combined game in the lower three positions on the singles ladder. Freshman Biel Roca Carreras (Iguolada, Spain) and Nico De La Pena (Downey HS) won in shutouts in the #3 and #5 positions, respectively, while freshman Victor Plaza-Barnils (AESA Prep Academy, TX) posted a 6-1, 6-0 decision at #4.
The top of the ladder saw freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) register a 6-2, 6-4 decision in his first match in the #1 spot, while sophomore Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS) came away with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Cerritos was tested in the #1 doubles match, as the tandem of Prokopchuk and freshman Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) were extended after they tied Gavin Dasl and Daniel Vinterfield, 8-8. In the tiebreaker, the Falcons went on to win, 7-1, while the duo of Carreras and sophomore Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes of PMMG, Brazil) posted am 8-0 shutout.
SINGLES
Alex Prokopchuk (CERR) def. Gavin Dasl (LAP), 6-2, 6-4
Kwangeun Lee (CERR) def. Daniel Vinterfeld (LAP), 6-2, 6-1
Biel Roca Carreras (CERR) def. Rafael Fogo-Schensol (LAP), 6-0, 6-0
Victor Plaza-Barnils (CERR) def. Andrew Kimmelman (LAP), 6-1, 6-0
Nico De La Pena (CERR) def. Erick Gil (LAP), 6-0, 6-0
Cerritos win by forfeit
DOUBLES
Alex Prokopchuk/Victor Castro (CERR) def. Gavin Dasl/Daniel Vinterfield (LAP), 9-8 (7-1)
Biel Roca Carreras/Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR) def. Rafael Fogo-Schensol/Andrew Kimmelman (LAP), 8-0
Cerritos win by forfeit