Cerritos claims first State Dual Team women's title
By Dave Loveton, SBCC Sports Information
Cerritos got off to a fast start Tuesday afternoon and never looked back while claiming their first CCCAA Dual Team Women's Tennis title at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura. The Falcons (25-1), the No. 1 seed in the South, topped De Anza, No. 4 in the North, by a 5-1 count.
Cerritos took a 2-1 lead after the three doubles sets on the way to its 18th straight victory. Tiffany Sanchez/Valentina Polonyi won the No. 2 doubles 8-3 and Jovana Milosevic/Danielle Pastor won by the same score at No. 3 doubles.
Van Nguyen/Polina Gorshenina got the only point for the Dons (16-4) at No. 1 doubles.
Sanchez cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 singles win over Izabella Haugen at No. 3 singles and 20 minutes later, Polonyi won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 to give the Falcons a 4-1 lead.
The crowd gathered around Court 1 where Cerritos No. 1 player, Taylor Heath, had won the last three games to take the first set 6-4. She hit a forehand winner past Nguyen, the No. 1-ranked player in Northern California, for a 5-3 lead in the second set. She then broke serve for the 6-3 victory, volleying a slam up the left sideline on match point.
"It feels amazing to be state champs, I've been waiting for this all season," said Heath, a sophomore from Cerritos High who's seeded No. 4 in the South for the State Individual Tourney that starts on Thusday at The Ojai. "We knew this was a special team from the beginning because we're all so close as friends. It makes for a really fun atmosphere."
"I started my singles off kind of slow with a bunch of errors but I was able to keep my composure and come back. It's so crazy that we won our first state championship."
The Falcons were leading in the other three singles that didn't finish (#2, 5 and 6), taking the first set in each one.
It was the seventh straight women's dual-team title for the South, which has won 35 of the 37 State team championships.
Cerritos coach Alvin Kim wasn't sure his team was state-championship caliber after some early season setbacks.
"We lost our potentially best player, who transferred to Florida, and another redshirt player had to take a medical year off," noted Kim, who coaches both the men's and women's teams for the Falcons. "We started to scramble and found talent in other places.
"Danielle Pastor, who started the season on the bench, is undefeated (24-0) in dual matches. We had a lot of other girls really rise up and go through a lot of difficulties to get to where we are."
Kim pointed to preparation when asked what made the difference in the State final.
"We were mentally prepared and physically prepared," he noted. "We showed a lot of good discipline throughout the season and we really didn't change anything today."
"Our trainers did a great job of minimizing injuries and making them feel better. Everyone came out and rocked the house today."
Cerritos 5, De Anza 1
Doubles
1. Van Nguyen/Polina Gorshenina (DAC) def. Taylor Heath/Anastasia Khomyachenko (CERR) 8-3
2. Tiffany Sanchez/Valentina Polonyi (CERR) def. Izabella Haugen/Meike Huizinga (DAC) 8-3
3. Jovana Milosevic/Danielle Pastor (CERR) def. Lina Nguyen/Sophie Farspour (DAC) 8-3
Singles
1. Taylor Heath (CERR) def. Van Nguyen (DAC) 6-4, 6-3
2. Anastasia Khomyachenko (CERR) vs Polina Gorshenina (DAC) DNF 6-4, 3-2
3. Tiffany Sanchez (CERR) def. Izabella Haugen (DAC) 6-0, 6-0
4. Valentina Polonyi (CERR) def. Meike Huizinga (DAC) 6-1, 6-2
5. Jovana Milosevic (CERR) vs Lina Nguyen (DAC) DNF 7-5, 4-5
6. Danielle Pastor (CERR) vs Sophie Farspour (DAC) DNF 6-4, 1-5
The Irvine Valley College men repeat as state champions, defeating American River 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon at host Ventura College. ARC's #1 doubles team of Joseph Capaul and Alex Meliuk gave the Beavers their only point on the day as IVC earns their second men's tennis state title in as many years. IVC finishes the season with a 21-2 record as ARC walks away 17-3.
Irvine Valley 5, American River 1
Doubles
1. Joseph Capaul/Alex Meliuk (ARC) def. Sam Cohen/Javi Callejo (IVC) 8-3
2. Scott Paz/Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. Cody Duong/Sean McDaniel (ARC) 8-4
3. Gavin Lynch/Kevin Pham (IVC) def. Justin Barton/TJ Auckland (ARC) 8-3
Singles
1. Sam Cohen (IVC) vs Alex Meliuk (ARC) DNF
2. Flavien Raveau (IVC) vs Cody Duong (ARC) DNF
3. Javi Callejo (IVC) def. Joseph Capaul (ARC) 6-2, 6-0
4. Octave Bellet (IVC) def. Sean McDaniel (ARC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. Dylan King (ARC) 6-1, 6-0
6. Juan Puyana (IVC) vs TJ Auckland (ARC) DNF
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