Battling both heaving winds and cold temperatures, the Cerritos College men's tennis team was able to come back and defeat visiting Cypress College, 7-2 on Friday. The Falcons (9-1), winners of their last six matches, lost two of the three doubles matches before sweeping the six singles matches to record the win. The team will open Western State Conference South Division play next Tuesday when they host Mt. San Antonio College in a 2:00 p.m. match.
In a rare occurrence, the Falcons trailed heading into singles play. But the team regrouped and won four straight-set matches, while coming back to win both matches that went to a third set. The comeback started in the #5 singles position, as freshman Dario Rico-Altozano (Colegio Cumbre, Spain) earned a 6-3, 6-0 decision, with freshman Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) not far behind in his 6-1, 6-4 win in the #2 position. The top singles player for Cerritos, freshman Kent Hunter (Home Schooled), earned a strong 6-3, 6-1 victory, with sophomore Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS) checking in with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. His win over Tomas Bella locked down the team's fifth point and secured the win.
The two remaining singles matches were headed to a third set, with Cerritos prevailing in both of them. Freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) rebounded after losing the second set and defeated Jan Paul Simon, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. As for sophomore Biel Roca Carreras (Iguolada, Spain), he lost the first set, 2-6 in the #4 position, but battled back to win the next two sets to close out the day, 6-4, 6-4.
In doubles play, the lone win came from Hunter and Castro in the #1 spot, as they posted an 8-3 win and improved to 7-0 as a doubles pair. Rico-Altozano and Lee were unable to get the win against Giovanni Fragalle and Simon and suffered just their second loss in seven matches.
SINGLES
Kent Hunter (CERR) def. Alex Hagon (CYP), 6-3, 6-1
Victor Castro (CERR) def. Johan Wennerholm (CYP), 6-1, 6-4
Alex Prokopchuk (CERR) def. Jan Paul Simon (CYP), 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
Biel Roca Carreras (CERR) def. Ingmar Remmerswaal (CYP), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Dario Rico-Altozano (CERR) def. Gertjan De Wilder (CYP), 6-3, 6-0
Kwangeun Lee (CERR) def. Tomas Bella (CYP), 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES
Kent Hunter/Victor Castro (CERR) def. Alex Hagon/Johan Wennerholm (CYP), 8-3
Giovanni Fragalle/Jan Paul Simon (CYP) def. Dario Rico-Altozano/Kwangeun Lee (CERR), 8-6
Ingmar Remmerswaal/Gertjan De Wilder (CYP) def. Alex Prokopchuk/Biel Roca Carreras (CERR), 8-3
Photos by Daryl Peterson
