Facing the #2-ranked NCAA Division III school in the country, the Cerritos College men's tennis team fell short against Williams (MA) College on Tuesday, 5-4. The loss to the Ephs snaps the team's 13-match winning streak, while it was the first home loss of the season for the Falcons (16-2). Cerritos finished the year going 4-2 against NCAA-level competition.The team will resume Western State Conference East Division matches on Thursday when they travel to Victor Valley College for a doubleheader.
Cerritos came close to sweeping the doubles matches, which would have clinched the team victory. They posted an 8-5 win in the #1 doubles match with freshmen Kent Hunter (Home Schooled) and Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil), while they most thrilling match of the day came in the #2 doubles match. In the verge of a loss, the tandem of freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine) and sophomore Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes of PMMG, Brazil) came back to earn a 9-8 (11-9) win. Prokopchuk and Silvestre improved to 4-0 as a pair, while sophomores Biel Roca Carreras (Iguolada, Spain) and Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS) teamed up for the first time in a close 8-6 loss in the #3 match.
Hunter was dominant in his #1 singles match, recording a 6-2, 6-2 victory over senior Brian Grodecki, with Prokopchuk playing another close match, this time in singles play. After splitting the first two sets at #3, Prokopchuk outlasted Sachin Raghavan, 11-9 in the tiebreaker. The Falcons lost the other four singles matches in straight sets.
SINGLES
Kent Hunter (CERR) def. Brian Grodecki (WC), 6-2, 6-2
Austin Barr (WC) def. Victor Castro (CERR), 6-2, 6-3
Alex Prokopchuk (CERR) def. Sachin Raghavan (WC), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9)
Ananth Raghavan (WC) def. Biel Roca Carreras (CERR), 6-4, 6-1
Alex Taylor (WC) def. Kwangeun Lee (CERR), 6-3, 6-1
Arturo Kam (WC) def. Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR), 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES
Kent Hunter/Victor Castro (CERR) def. Brian Grodecki/Austin Barr (WC), 8-5
Alex Prokopchuk/Marcos Paulo Silvestre (CERR) def. Alex Taylor/Calvin Chung (WC), 9-8 (11-9)
Arturo Kam/Jordan Sadowsky (WC) def. Biel Roca Carreras/Kwangeun Lee (CERR), 8-6
Photos by Daryl Peterson
