After winning the South Coast Conference championship, the Cerritos College men's tennis team continued their dominance with an All-Cerritos singles and doubles championship round set for Friday in the SCC Championships. The Falcons, who are hosting the tournament, recorded a couple of upsets in both singles and doubles play on Thursday to set up the finals. The singles final will start at 1:00 p.m., while doubles are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Top-seeded Nathan Eshmade (Kings Baptist HS, Australia) had no trouble reaching the championships, as he defeated a pair of teammates. In the quarterfinals, Eshmade defeated an ailing Julian Avila (Paramount HS), 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and then handed freshman Maurice Grijalva (Gardena HS) a 6-1, 6-1 setback to reach the finals. Grijavla opened the day with a stunning 6-4, 6-2 upset over #3-seeded Andrew Lieu of Mt. San Antonio College before his loss to Eshmade.

In the other singles bracket, sophomore Todd Jenkins (Cabrillo HS) put himself in position to face Eshmade in the finals after an upset win of his own in the semi-finals. After dispatching of teammate Mathew Espiritu (Long Beach Millikan HS) in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-1, the #4-seeded Jenkins ousted #2-seeded Marcelo Bautista of Mt. San Antonio. Jenkins opened with a quick 6-1 win, but was extended to a tie-breaker after dropping a 5-7 decision, but responded with a 10-3 win to advance to the finals.

Doubles play was also dominated by the Falcons, as top-seeded Eshmade and Espiritu defeated #4-seeded Cameron Webber and Kenny Simmons of Mt. SAC, 8-2. But Cerritos had one more upset in them, as #3-seeded Jenkins and Grijalva had enough left in their tanks to upset #2-seeded Bautista and Lieu, 8-5.

Photo by Daryl Peterson