It will be the veterans vs. the newcomers in the 2014 CCCAA Men's Tennis Dual Team State Championship 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.
