Continuing their unparalleled dominance, the Cerritos College men's tennis team has advanced all three of their doubles teams and three of their singles players to the quarterfinals of the CCCAA State Championships. The Falcons, who won the team dual state championship on Wednesday have three seeded singles players and doubles teams just three wins away from state championships. The third day of action will take place in and around Ojai on Saturday.
The team's top-seeded freshman, Kent Hunter (Home Schooled), breezed through a pair of matches on Friday, as he ousted unseeded Sasha Kovacevic of San Diego Mesa College, 6-0, 6-2 and then shut out #11-seed Guillaume Daurelle of Santa Barbara City College, 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 16. He will now face unseeded Priyank Soni of Ventura College in the quarterfinals after Soni upset #4-seeded Michael Vizcarra of American River College. His doubles partner, #3-seeded freshman Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) had the same type of day. After a 6-0, 6-2 win over #13-seeded Stephen Morely of Folsom Lake College, he upended #8-seeded Adrien Etiemble of Ventura College, 6-0, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Castro is set to take on #6-seeded Michael Bott of Irvine Valley College, who is their #1 singles player.
In doubles action, the top-seeded pair earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over #15-seeded Steven Blancas and Chandler Hisepin of Fresno City College. The finished their day with a 6-2, 6-0 win against #5-seeded Morely and Daniel Alves of Folsom Lake. In the quarterfinals, they will be taking on Palomar College's Will Molenkamp and Patrik Trhac, who are seeded #8.
The Falcons other seeded singles player who advance past the second day was freshman Alex Prokopchuk (School 45, Ukraine), as the #7-seed recorded a pair of wins. He opened with a 6-2, 6-0 win against unseeded Augustine Lestelle of Ventura and followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win over #14-seeded Lirone Arecassio of Grossmont College, who upset #4-seeded Roger Wen of Chabot College. Prokopchuk and sophomore doubles partner, Marcos Paulo Silvestre (Colégio Tiradentes of PMMG, Brazil), held up to their #2 seed, as they posted a pair of straight set wins. They earned a 6-2, 6-0 decision against unseeded Ryan Fabre and Chris Torcaso of Saddleback College. Next was a 6-2, 6-1 win over #12-seeded Sami Akouz and Theirry Van Os of Riverside City College. Saturday's action will see them take on Joey Dijkstra and Matthew Lindsey of Orange Coast.
The final doubles pair to advance had a more dramatic day, as both of their matches went to a third set tie-breaker. Freshman Dario Rico-Altozano (Colegio Cumbre, Spain) and sophomore Kwangeun Lee (Sunny Hills HS), who are seeded #15, picked up a pair of upset wins over higher seeded pairings. They opened the day with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 win against #2-seeded Jay Pandit and Wen of Chabot, which was followed with a thrilling 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 victory against #5-seeded Thomas Pidoux and Kayne Trustfull of Riverside City College. They will take on #10-seeded Arecassio and Thomas Bernardes of Grossmont in the quarterfinals.
Suffering losses in singles action on Friday included Biel Roca Carreras (Iguolada, Spain), who was defeated by #5-seeded Solal Cherqui of Ventura, 3-6, 1-6, Rico-Altozano was eliminated by #4-seeded Trustfull of Riverside City College, 2-6, 3-6.
April 29, 2018
M&W Tennis: Siblings become first-ever champions
April 28, 2018
M. Tennis: All-Cerritos singles at state championships
April 26, 2018
M. Tennis: First day sees eight of nine entries advance
April 25, 2018
M&W Tennis: Falcons pull off rare double state title
April 17, 2018
M. Tennis: Win sends Falcons to SoCal Championship match
April 10, 2018
M. Tennis: SoCal Team Playoffs opens with 5-0 win
April 9, 2018
M&W Tennis: Both teams seeded #1 for playoffs
April 3, 2018
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March 30, 2018
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March 29, 2018
M. Tennis: Falcons dispatch final undefeated team
March 28, 2018
M. Tennis: Victory pushes Falcons to 20-win mark
March 27, 2018
M. Tennis: Cerritos posts pair of wins over Mt. SAC
March 23, 2018
M. Tennis: Team rebounds from loss for 7-2 win
March 20, 2018
M. Tennis: Loss to NCAA DIII school snaps streak
March 9, 2018
M. Tennis: Winning streak extended to 11 after 7-2 win
March 8, 2018
M. Tennis: Falcons earn conference win over Mt. SAC
March 1, 2018
M. Tennis: Rare doubleheader leads to sweep
February 23, 2018
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February 20, 2018
M. Tennis: Cerritos hands Orange Coast first loss
February 15, 2018
M. Tennis: Win over Mesa (AZ) CC improves record to 7-1
February 13, 2018
M. Tennis: Falcons handle Irvine Valley, 9-0
February 9, 2018
M. Tennis: Back-to-back wins caps off road trip
February 8, 2018
M. Tennis: Week opens with win over Westmont College
February 3, 2018
M. Tennis: Team suffers close loss to Concordia
February 2, 2018
M. Tennis: Wins continue for Falcons
February 1, 2018
M. Tennis: Second shutout in a row accounts for strong start
January 30, 2018
M. Tennis: Season opens with solid 9-0 win