M&W Tennis: Cerritos to represent SoCal at Nationals

Cerritos will be well-represented at the ITA Nationals

Posted: Oct 03, 2017

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The Cerritos College men's and women's tennis teams excelled at the ITA Regional Championships, which were held at the Falcon Tennis Courts from September 27-29. The Falcons won both the singles and doubles championships, while the women captured the doubles title. The ITA Oracle Cup will take place at Berry College in Rome, GA from October 11-13.

On the men's side, incoming freshman Kent Hunter defeated five opponents in straight sets to capture the championship. In the finals, he defeated teammate Victor Castro, 6-3, 6-1, making Hunter the first Cerritos singles representative since Nathan Eshmade in 2013. All Falcon singles players did well in the tournament, which included sophomores Bruno Duarte and Carlos Mendez-Calzada, along with freshman Dario Rico-Altozano all joining Hunter and Castro in the Round of 16.

In doubles play, Cerritos represented three of the four semifinalists, with the tandem of Castro and Duarte defeating teammates Hunter and freshman Alex Prokopchuk, 8-5 to qualify for the national tournament. Along the way, Castro and Duarte eliminated teammates Rico-Altozano and Roca-Carreras, 8-6 to reach the championship match. Last year, Sasha Krasnov and Nikita Katsnelson won the Regional Championship and competed in the ITA Oracle Cup.

In women's doubles action, sophomore Petra Such and freshman teammate Lisa Suzuki posted four straight wins to capture the championship and are the first Falcon doubles team to win the title. In the finals, they defeated Miri Inoue and Camryn Mason of Orange Coast College, 8-2. The Pirate pair defeated Cerritos freshmen Itzi Torres and Moa Lindstrom, 8-6. They were the two Falcon doubles entries in the tournament.

Suzuki won her side of the bracket in singles, but was defeated by eventual champion Juliette Mary of Eastern Arizona College, 2-6, 2-6. There is a chance Suzuki could be invited as an at-large entry, as there are five regions and eight spots in the national tournament. Reaching the final eight were Torres, as well as returning sophomores Such and Diviana Bravo.