In their third match this season against an NCAA Division III school, the Cerritos College men's tennis team improved to 5-0 with their 8-1 win over visiting Whittier College on Saturday. The Falcons will now host Riverside City College at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
The day started with Cerritos sweeping three close doubles matches, which gave them a comfortable 3-0 team lead. The first two matches were 8-6 scores, with sophomores Sasha Krasnov (School 106, Ukraine) and Nikita Katsnelson (Odessa Gymnasium No. 1, Ukraine) coming back for a win, while sophomore Aleks Trifunovic (Katrinelunds Gymnasium, Sweden) and James Zhang (Shenzhen Luohu Foreign Language School, China) held on for their win.
Those wins gave the Falcons more confidence heading into singles play, as Krasnov posted a 6-1, 6-2 win at the top of the ladder, followed by a 6-2, 6-0 win by Katsnelson. The only singles setback was a three-set marathon at #3 with Whittier's Elmer Van Butselaar pulling out a 7-5, 5-7, 10-6 win over Trifunovic.
Freshman Bruno Duarte (Centro Educacional Rogêdo, Brazil), who teamed with freshman Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes, Brazil) for an 8-5 doubles victory, earned a 6-1, 6-3 win in the #4 singles position. Zhang had little trouble with his 6-1, 6-4 win, with freshman Carlos Mendez (Instituto de Educación Secundaria Ies El Palo, Spain) finishing out the win with a 6-2, 6-0 win at the #6 spot on the singles ladder.
SINGLES
Sasha Krasnov (CERR) def. Andrew You (WC), 6-1, 6-2
Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. Thomas Koszowski (WC), 6-2, 6-0
Elmer Van Butselaar (WC) def. Aleks Trifunovic (CERR), 7-5, 5-7, 10-6
Bruno Duarte (CERR) def. Hunter Kettering (WC), 6-1, 6-3
James Zhang (CERR) def. Chris Papacio (WC), 6-1, 6-4
Carlos Mendez (CERR) def. Maxwell Koszowski (WC), 6-2, 6-0
DOUBLES
Sasha Krasnov/Nikita Katsnelson (CERR) def. Andrew You/Thomas Koszowski (WC), 8-6
Aleks Trifunovic/James Zhang (CERR) def. Hunter Ketterling/Chris Palacio (WC), 8-6
Bruno Duarte/Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR) def. Elmer Van Butselaar/Maxwell Koszowski (WC), 8-5
Photos by Daryl Peterson
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