With a couple of doubles wins, and three straight set wins in singles play, the Cerritos College women's tennis team opened the Southern California Regional Team Playoffs with a 5-2 win over Santa Barbara City College on Tuesday. The Falcons (19-6), seeded #4 in SoCal, will now advance to the semi-finals next Tuesday when they travel to take on #2-seeded Glendale College. The Vaqueros (16-2), who defeated Cerritos, 7-2 in the opening match of the year, eliminated #7-seeded Irvine Valley College, 5-2. The winner advances to the Southern California Regional Team Championships on April 18.

Cerritos opened the match against Santa Barbara City with a pair of wins in doubles play, including a close 8-5 decision by sophomore Stef Flores (Golden Valley Charter HS) and freshman Anastasia Khomyachenko (Sochi, Russia). Freshmen Taylor Heath (Cerritos HS) and Mariia Yatsenko (School 328, Ukraine) posted a solid 8-3 win in the #1 doubles match.

Moving on to singles action, Heath and Yatsenko quickly put the team on the verge of victory with straight sent wins. In the #6 match, sophomore Merli Alcasid (Gahr HS) earned a 6-2, 6-0 win to finish off the Vaqueros. Heath (6-3, 6-0) and Yatsenko (6-3, 6-2) won their matches in the #2 and #3 positions, respectively. Khomyachenko was leading, 6-2, 3-4 in her #1 match, but once the Falcons earned their fifth team point, the match was ended.

DOUBLES

Taylor Heath/Mariia Yatsenko (CERR) def. Maddie Seeds, Marcela Massaglia (SBCC), 8-3
Stef Flores/Anastasia Khomyachenko (CERR) def. Tess Kolkman/Zionne Lee (SBCC), 8-5
Amanda Berke/Edda von Hodenberg (SBCC) def. Merli Alcasid/Katia Brambila (CERR), 8-6

SINGLES

Anastasia Khomyachenko (CERR) led Maddie Seeds (SBCC), 6-2, 3-4 (unfinished)
Taylor Heath (CERR) def. Marcela Massaglia (SBCC), 6-3, 6-0
Mariia Yatsenko (CERR) def. Tess Kolkman (SBCC), 6-3, 6-2
Zionne Lee (SBCC) led Stef Flores (CERR), 7-6 (unfinished)
Amanda Berke (SBCC) def. Katia Brambila (CERR), 7-5, 6-1
Merli Alcasid (CERR) def. Gabriela McDaniel (SBCC), 6-2, 6-0