For the first time in school history, the Cerritos College men's tennis team will play for the CCCAA Dual Team State Championship. The Falcons (27-2), ranked #1 in the state, shut out #2-seeded Ventura College, 5-0 and will now take on American River College, the Northern California champion, on Wednesday at noon at Ventura College. The Pirates, who finished their season with a 14-2 record, suffered both of their losses to Cerritos. Earlier in the season, the Falcons shut out the Beavers, 9-0 in a non-conference match. In previous seasons, Cerritos has reached the Southern California championship match, but never advanced to the state finals.
Although it was a 5-0 team win, two of the three doubles matches were close. In the #3 position, the tandem of freshman Dario Rico-Altozano (Colegio Cumbre, Spain) and sophomore Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS) led, 6-3 at one point, but saw the score close to 7-6. The duo served up the game-winning point, which sent the Falcons into singles play with a 3-0 team lead.
Freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) and sophomore Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes of PMMG, Brazil) finished off their #2 doubles match by winning 8-4 after holding a slim 3-2 lead at the start. They slowly started putting points away in bunches to lock down the win. Same for #1 doubles team of Kent Hunter (Home Schooled) and Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil), who remained undefeated after their 8-3 win.
Singles action saw Rico-Altozano move the team one step closer to the team win with his 6-0, 6-1 win in the #5 position. Prokopchuk, playing at #3, closed out the victory with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. The Falcons were winning in each of the other four singles matches.
DOUBLES
Kent Hunter/Victor Castro (CERR) def. Priyank Soni/Adrien Etiemble (VC), 8-3
Alex Prokopchuk/Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR) def. Alexander Martin/Jakob Rinschen (VC), 8-4
Dario Rico-Altozano/Kwangeun Lee (CERR) def. Solal Cherqui/Rafael Dunan (VC), 8-6
SINGLES
Kent Hunter (CERR) led Solal Cherqui (VC), 6-4, 3-0
Victor Castro (CERR) led Priyank Soni (VC), 6-3, 5-2
Alex Prokopchuk (CERR) def. Adrien Etiemble (VC), 6-3, 7-5
Biel Roca Carreras (CERR) led Augustin Lestelle (VC), 6-3, 4-3
Dario Rico-Altozano (CERR) def. Rafael Dunan (VC), 6-0, 6-1
Kwangeun Lee (CERR) led Rodrigo Perdigao (VC), 6-2, 5-4
Photos by Daryl Peterson