College of the Desert turns back American River to win CCCAA Men's Tennis State Championship

BAKERSFIELD - Three years and two canceled championships after College of the Desert last claimed a CCCAA Men's Tennis State Championship, the Roadrunners defended their 2020 title with a 9-0 victory on Saturday over NorCal champion American River at the Bakersfield Racquet Club, claiming the program's 16th state banner overall.

The win capped a perfect 19-0 season for COD which lost just six team points all season and only one after their first two matches of the season. That kind of dominance played out throughout the postseason and again on Saturday against American River, which entered the state championship after shutting out its three postseason opponents. On Saturday, though, the Roadrunners had too much firepower and went on to win the state title.

"I was really happy to have three guys (Elijah Strode, Marco Alvarez, Raymundo Chavez) come back that were in that COVID season," said head coach Guy Fritz. "We didn't play last year so for them to hang in there and three of the top guys to come back is great, to finish it off.

"We really peaked toward the end of the season," Fritz added. "We put a lot of hard work in, the guys started practicing harder and they raised the level of their game. They're playing at their best right now."

The Roadrunners swept the opening three doubles matches but were pushed at both No. 1 and No. 2. Strode and Chavez beat ARC's Micah Erwin and Ravi Nelson at the top spot while Alvarez and Matthew Shaw teamed to beat Zac Prince and Robin Sharma at No. 2, both matches finishing with 8-5 scores. Jessie Ma and Eita Ishikawa had an 8-2 win at No. 3, completing the sweep.

While it takes just five team points to clinch the win, the teams agreed before the match to play all matches to completion. The Roadrunners were straight-set winners in each of them but the Beavers battled hard, including Alvarez' tough 6-2, 6-3 win over Erwin at No. 2 that was the last to finish and had both teams still cheering hard for their teammates despite the win already being clinched. 

Strode won 6-1, 6-2 over Nelson at No. 1, the same score that Chavez had in his win against Sharma at No. 3 and Ishikawa posted versus Prince at No. 4. Ma beat Justin Le by identical 6-2 scores at No. 5 while Shawn posted a hard-fought, 6-4, 6-2 victory against Parker Perdue at No. 6.

"The guys were just very steady and very sharp and had very few unforced errors (today)," Fritz said. "They were just ready to play."

Both the CCCAA men's and women's tennis championships were played at the beautiful Bakersfield Racquet Club, which in the past has hosted a Davis Cup match. The facility along with sunny skies provided the perfect backdrop to championship-level tennis in both matches.

CCCAA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Bakersfield Racquet Club (Bakersfield, Calif.)

COLLEGE OF THE DESERT 9, AMERICAN RIVER 0
Singles
No. 1 - Elijah Strode (COD) def. Ravis Nelson (ARC), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 - Marco Alvarez (COD) def. Micah Erwin (ARC), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 - Ray Chavez (COD) def. Robin Sharma (ARC), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 - Eita Ishikawa (COD) def. Zac Prince (ARC), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 - Jessie Ma (COD) def. Justin Le (ARC), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 - Matthew Shaw (COD) def. Parker Perdue (ARC), 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 - Strode-Chavez (COD) def. Erwin-Nelson (ARC), 8-5
No. 2 - Alvarez-Shaw (COD) def. Prince-Sharma (ARC), 8-5
No. 3 - Ma-Ishikawa (COD) def. Le-D.J. Sobrepena (ARC), 8-2

(Mike Robles, CCCAA)