The final score was not indicative of how much of a battle it was for the Cerritos College men's tennis team in their 9-0 non-conference win over Glendale College on Friday. The match took nearly five hours and required the Falcons (8-2) to win four third set tie-breakers in singles play. Additionally, all three of the doubles matches were nail-biters that came down to the wire. The team will resume Western State Conference East Division play on Tuesday when they host Mt. San Antonio College at 2:00 p.m.

Moving back to the #1 doubles position, freshman Arthur Toledo (Goliath Academy, FL) and sophomore Bruno Duarte (Centro Educacional Rogêdo, Brazil) had their hands full with the Vaqueros (8-3) top team. Trailing early, the two fought back and came away with a 9-7 win, while sophomore Jan Simon (Gymnasium Auf Der Karthause, Germany/Cypress College) and freshman Lucas Legrand (Marie, France) held off Steven Sandoval and Hakop Chagaian, 8-6 in their #2 doubles match. Teaming up for just the fourth time this season, sophomores Tomas Bella (Colegio Mallinckrodt, Argentina/Cypress College) and Nico De La Pena (Downey HS) held on for an 8-5 win.

After a trio of doubles matches that could have gone either way, the Falcons had their hands full in singles play. Aside from Duarte (6-2, 6-1) and Legrand (6-1, 6-1) at #2 and #3 singles, the other four matches were extended to a third set. Cerritos had clinched the team win with the other four matches continuing, but that didn't diminish the quality of tennis.

Both Bella and De La Pena dropped their first two sets at the bottom of the ladder, but regained their stroke and took the next two sets handily. Legrand and Chagaian continued their back and forth match in singles, with Legrand coming away with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win. The last match of the day came at the top of the singles ladder, as Toledo saw Mark Peneff storm back after the first set. Toledo opened with a 6-2 win, but dropped the second set, 5-7 before coming away with a 7-6 win in the third set.

SINGLES
Arthur Toledo (CERR) def. Mark Peneff (GCC), 6-2, 5-7, 7-6
Bruno Duarte (CERR) def. Steven Sandoval (GCC), 6-2, 6-1
Jan Simon (CERR) def. Nicholas Pupiec (GCC), 6-1, 6-1
Lucas Legrand (CERR) def. Hakop Chagaian (GCC), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Tomas Bella (CERR) def. Jinseok Lee (GCC), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
Nico De La Pena (CERR) def. Oshin Hakobian (GCC), 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

DOUBLES
Arthur Toledo/Bruno Duarte (CERR) def. Mark Peneff/Nicholas Popiec (GCC), 9-7
Jan Simon/Lucas Legrand (CERR) def. Steven Sandoval/Hakop Chagaian (GCC), 8-6
Tomas Bella/Nico De La Pena (CERR) def. Marcel Contin/Andres Simental (GCC), 8-5