For the fourth time this season, the Cerritos College men's tennis team has defeated an NCAA school. On Thursday, they dispatched NCAA Division III Swarthmore (PA) College, 8-1, which improves the team's record to 16-1 on the year and extends their winning streak to 13 matches in a row. The team will host NCAA Division III Williams (MA) College at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday in their final match against a four-year school of the season.
It was a battle for the Falcons against the Garnet, with several of the sets potentially going either way. At the top of the singles ladder, freshman Kent Hunter (Home Schooled) posted a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win, with freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) moving up one spot on the ladder and earned a 6-3, 6-0 victory. With everyone else moving up the ladder one spot, it led to a tie-breaker win for sophomore Biel Roca Carreras (Iguolada, Spain) in the #3 position, as he outlasted Michael Song, 6-4, 6-7, 10-4, while sophomore Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS) played his way to a straight set win, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
In the #6 position, sophomore Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes of PMMG, Brazil) recored a 6-3, 6-2 win, with the lone loss coming in the #5 spot, as freshman Victor Plaza-Barnils (AESA Prep Academy, TX) came up short in a 4-6, 5-7 decision against Noah Cheng.
Aside from an 8-0 win by Carreras and Silvestre in the #3 position, the other two doubles matches were close. Prokopchuk and freshman Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) earned an 8-4 win, while Hunter and Lee pulled out an 8-6 victory. All three doubles matches featured tandems pairing up for just the second time all season, with all three improving to 2-0 on the year as partners.
SINGLES
Alex Prokopchuk (CERR) def. Ari Cepelewicz (SC), 6-3, 6-0
Biel Roca Carreras (CERR) def. Michael Song (SC), 6-4, 6-7, 10-4
Kwangeun Lee (CERR) def. Kevin Xu (SC), 6-2, 6-4
Noah Cheng (SC) def. Victor Plaza-Barnils (CERR), 6-4, 7-5
Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR)d def. Devan Geib (SC), 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES
Alex Prokopchuk/Victor Castro (CERR) def. Ari Cepelewicz/Michael Song (SC), 8-4
Kent Hunter/Kwangeun Lee (CERR) def. Yosuki Higashi/Noah Cheng (SC), 8-6
Biel Roca Carreras/Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR) def. Kevin Xu/Devan Geib (SC), 8-0
Photos by Daryl Peterson