W. Tennis: Singles and doubles still alive at state championships

File Photo: Lisa Suzuki advances in both singles and doubles
File Photo: Lisa Suzuki advances in both singles and doubles

After the second day of the CCCAA State Championships in Ojai, the Cerritos College women's tennis team has three singles players and a pair of doubles teams still active. The quarterfinals will get underway at 8:00 a.m., with two more wins advancing players to the state championship match.

Singles play saw #2-seeded Lisa Suzuki (Fujimigaoka, Japan/Seward County (KS) CC) record a pair of wins, while she teamed with freshman teammate Kseniia Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) to advance with two victories as a #1 seed in doubles. Suzuki opened the day with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over unseeded Taylor Johnson of Mt. San Jacinto College and followed that with a 6-1, 6-2 win over #10-seeded Jacklyn Melkonian of Saddleback College. On Saturday, Suzuki will face #3-seeded Caroline Nordman of Canada College. As for her doubles partner, #6-seeded Prokopchuk defeated #6 Maria Zimmerman of De Anza College, 6-0, 6-0 and then ousted #4-seeded Claudia Stepien of College of the Desert. She has her hands full on the quarterfinals, as she squares off against #1-seeded Eva Spindler of American River College on Saturday morning.

Their day in doubles saw them drop just three games in two matches, which started with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against #16-seeded Molly Amico and Mary Beth Carter of Fresno City College. Their Round of 16 match resulted in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Folsom Lake College's Anjelica Frank and Abriana Rowe. In the quarterfinals, they will take on #4-seeded Stephanie Huang and Sophia Moeckelmann of Chabot College.

Sophomore Petra Such (Illyes Gyula, Hungary), a #5 seed, handed Frank a 6-1, 6-1 loss and followed that with a 6-0, 6-0 win against #13-seeded Abby Mullins of Santa Monica College. The road gets a little more difficult, as Such is facing #1-seed Halla Alajeely of Irvine Valley College in the quarterfinals. She also teamed with freshman Moa Lindstrom (Dragonskolans Elitidrottgymnasium, Sweden) to pick up a pair of doubles wins. Lindstrom, a #11-seed in singles, suffered a 3-6, 6-4, 5-7 loss to Huang, who is a #4-seed. They rebounded in doubles to defeat #13-seeded Zee Aynaci and Abigail Campos of San Francisco City College, 7-6, 6-3. Their second match of the day resulted in a 6-1, 6-0 victory against unseeded Sara Le Boulenge and Jo Ann Taylor of Orange Coast College. Their opponent in the quarterfinals are #1-seeded Sandra Dafinescu and Marie Zimmerman of De Anza, who were defeated by Suzuki and Prokopchuck, 8-1 in the team championship match on Wednesday.

Nordman, who faces Suzuki on Saturday in the quarterfinals, defeated #12-seeded Itzi Torres (ITESM CEM, Mexico/Kansas Wesleyan University) in the Round of 16, 3-6, 3-6 after Torres eliminated Taylor earlier in the morning, 6-1, 7-5. She and her doubles partner, #11-seeded Diviana Bravo (Rosa de Jesus Cordero, Ecuador), posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Josephine Pulver and Pia Valtierra of Santa Rosa Junior College, 6-2 6-2, before seeing their season come to an end with a 3-6, 4-6 setback against #3-seeded Miri Inoue and Cameryn Mason of Orange Coast in the Round of 16.