Irvine Valley moves on with shutout win over Saddleback
IRVINE, Calif. - Irvine Valley's men's tennis team reached its fourth straight CCCAA Regional Team Playoff Final with another easy win on Tuesday afternoon.
Top-seeded Irvine Valley, which is the two-time defending state champion, defeated Orange Empire Conference rival and fourth-seeded Saddleback, 5-0, in a little over two hours at home.
Irvine Valley stayed unbeaten on the season, improving its record to 17-0. The Lasers have now won 33 straight matches dating back to last season.
Saddleback ended its team season with a record of 14-8 overall.
Irvine Valley captured all three doubles matches and then clinched the overall victory with two quick wins in singles.
In doubles, Irvine Valley's No. 2 team of freshmen Wyatt DeMulling and Chris Politiek won, 8-1, to earn the first point for the Lasers. DeMulling and Politiek were the co-doubles team of the year in the Orange Empire Conference this season.
Irvine Valley then got a 8-2 victory on the third court from sophomore Gavin Lynch and freshman Leszek Mirecki before the No. 1 team of sophomores Javier Callejo and Lucas Lesoeur won, 8-5.
Behind some big serving, Lesoeur defeated Saddleback's Riku Goto, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2 singles to move Irvine Valley within a match of the win.
Politiek ended things on court four, beating Tyler Bloom, 6-2, 6-1.
Irvine Valley's DeMulling, Callejo, Mirecki and sophomore Luis Castillo were each all up a set on other singles courts when the match was halted.
Irvine Valley moves on to play either No. 2 Cerritos or No. 3 Cypress on Saturday at home in the regional final.
The Lasers have faced both teams this season and the matches have been tight.
IVC defeated Cerritos, 5-4, in a nonconference match on Feb. 25 at home.
Irvine Valley rallied to beat Cypress, 5-4, in a conference match at home on Feb. 28 and then defeated the Chargers on the road, 6-3, on Mar. 14 to wrap up the outright conference title.
Singles
1) Wyatt DeMulling (IVC) vs. Jeff Gelman (SC), 6-2, 2-3 unfinished
2) Lucas Lesoeur (IVC) def. Riko Goto (SC), 6-0, 6-1
3) Javir Callejo (IVC) vs. Kris Harris (SC), 6-3, 3-1 unfinished
4) Chris Politiek (IVC) def. Tyler Bloom (SC), 6-2, 6-1
5) Leszek Mirecki (IVC) vs. Mike Park, 6-3, 1-0 unfinished
6) Luis Castillo (IVC) vs. Andrew Tran, 6-2, 1-0 unfinished
Doubles
1) Lesoeur/Callejo (IVC) def. Goto/Gelman (SC), 8-5
2) DeMulling/Politiek (IVC) def. David Gustafson/Bloom (SC), 8-1
3) Mirecki/Gavin Lynch (IVC) def. Park/Tran (SC), 8-2