Thanks to Dave Loveton of the CCCAA for this great preview of tomorrow’s action. It will be the men at noon at VC College, and then the women at 1 p.m. at Pierpont. Hope you can catch all the action. And it’s free. See you in Ojai!
Fresno City Men Eye Third Straight CCCAA Title
It will be the Veterans vs. the Newcomers in the CCCAA Men’s Tennis Dual Team final on Wednesday at Ventura College.
Fresno City (17-0) is the No. 1 seed in the North and the Rams have claimed the last two state titles. They’ll bring a 57-match win streak into the final against Irvine Valley, which starts at noon.
Fresno, coached by Hank Bessinger, posted 12 shutouts this year and only lost three individual matches prior to Saturday’s Northern Cal final. The Rams, champions of the Big 8 South (8-0), topped No. 3 American River 5-3 to earn another trip to the state final. They’re seeking their fourth title overall, having also won in 2004.
Irvine Valley, the top seed in Southern Cal, is 17-2 and seeking its first state championship. The Lasers captured their first Orange Empire title (10-0) and are making their first playoff appearance in school history. Their only two losses were to four-year NAIA schools, Concordia and Bethany.
The Lasers won their first two playoff matches by 5-1 scores, then staged a dramatic rally to beat No. 2 College of the Desert 5-4 in the Southern Cal final. With the score tied at 4-4, IVC’s Simon Guillin was down to his last point on two occasions in his No. 2 singles match. The freshman from France battled back to tie the third set 5-5 and went on to register a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 victory that vaulted the Lasers into their first state final.
Ross Duncan, the Lasers’ second-year coach, will miss the state final because he’s playing for the United States in the ITA Senior World Team Championships (age 35 and over) in Boca Raton, Fla. Duncan, a former UCSB standout, will be replaced by Irvine Valley women’s tennis coach Amber Vann.
Fullerton Women Seek Second Straight Title in State Team Final
The opponents will be familiar in the CCCAA Women’s Tennis Dual Team final with Fullerton taking on Sierra for the second straight year. A year ago, Fullerton rallied to beat the Wolverines 5-4 to claim its first state title in the inaugural State Tournament at The Ojai.
The teams will square off for the 2014 crown on Wednesday, April 23 at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura, starting at 1 p.m.
Fullerton (19-2) was seeded third in Southern Cal. The Hornets were a perfect 10-0 in Orange Empire League play and captured the Southern Cal title with a 5-1 victory over conference rival Orange Coast, the No. 4 seed, on Saturday.
Fullerton, coached by Scott Giles, returns three players from the championship squad – Sarah Anderson, Cailin Mitchell and Jasmine Catolico. Anderson was last year’s state runner-up in individual singles and won the doubles title with Victoria Vo.
The Wolverines, led by coach Steve Dunmore, are making their fourth straight appearance in the state final. They went 13-1 this year and were seeded No. 1 for the Northern Cal Regional. They cruised through the playoffs with two 5-0 wins and a 5-1 decision over No. 2 seed Foothill.
Jacquie Ward, Bethany Caldwell and Kaitlyn Fischer earned singles wins for Sierra in the Northern Cal title match with Ward/Stephanie Ramos and Fischer/Lauren Griffin getting the doubles points. Caldwell, Fischer, Ramos and Griffin all played in last year’s state final.
The Wolverines won a state title in 2007 and finished second in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Open the brackets below for complete regional results.
Singles and Doubles Championship Brackets