In their first of five matches this week, the Cerritos College men's tennis team recorded a convincing 9-0 win over NCAA Division III Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY). The Falcons (14-2) will now host Victor Valley College in a South Coast Conference match at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Opening with doubles against the Engineers (1-6), Cerritos played a couple of close matches, with one going to a tie-breaker. They received a tough 8-6 win in the #1 doubles match with freshman Oleksandr Krasnov (School 106, Ukraine) and Nikita Katsnelson (Odessa Gymnasium No. 1, Ukraine), while the duo of sophomores Agustin Lombardi (E.S.D.S., Argentina) and Mark Antoniuk (W. 124 School, Russia) allowed the team to take a 3-0 team lead into singles play. The most convincing doubles win was an 8-4 decision for freshmen Aleks Trifunovic (Katrinelunds Gymnasium, Sweden) and James Zhang (Shenzhen Luohu Foreign Language School, China).

The Falcons carried that success into singles, as they posted four straight set wins, with the bottom two on the ladder needing a tie-breaker set. Trifunovic registered a 6-0, 6-0 win in the #4 position, while Katsnelson earned a solid 6-1, 6-0 win in the #2 position on the ladder. It was a 6-2, 6-1 win for Krasnov at the top, with Lombardi earning a 6-3, 6-3 win over Sherman Uyeno.

After dropping the first set, Zhang rebounded for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win while dealing with an nagging injury. Antoniuk also fought off an injury to pull out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory.

SINGLES

Oleksandr Krasnov (CERR) def. McKinley Grimes (RPI), 6-2, 6-1
Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. Tristan Wise (RPI), 6-1, 6-0
Agustin Lombardi (CERR) def. Sherman Uyeno (RPI), 6-3, 6-3
Aleks Trifunovic (CERR) def. Alain Grullon (RPI), 6-0, 6-0
James Zhang (CERR) def. Stephen Baxter (RPI), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Mark Antoniuk (CERR) def. Anthony Kim (RPI), 6-4, 1-6, 6-2

DOUBLES

Oleksandr Krasnov/Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. McKinley Grimes/Sherman Uyeno (RPI), 8-6
Aleks Trifunovic/James Zhang (CERR) def. Tristan Wise/Alain Grullon (RPI), 8-4
Agustin Lombardi/Mark Antoniuk (CERR) def. Graham Harris/Anthony Kim (RPI), 9-8(3)