Women's tennis team's special run ends in regional semifinals

Women's tennis team's special run ends in regional semifinals

The Irvine Valley women's tennis team's magical season came to an end on Tuesday afternoon at home.

The top-seeded Lasers fell to fourth-seeded Santa Monica, 5-3, in the SoCal Regional Championship Semifinals.

"It was a great season for a bunch of ladies who were not expected to accomplish much at the start of the year," IVC assistant coach Matt Harris said. "They won a conference title, earned a No. 1 regional ranking and were seeded first in the playoffs. For a team that was not ranked in the top 10 to start the season, it is pretty special.

"To top it all off, they were a team this year and fought for one another. The coaching staff is so proud of them."

IVC, which finished with a record of 11-5 overall and was co-champion in the Orange Empire Conference, continued to fight on Tuesday even after being down after the doubles round.

Santa Monica won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead in points heading into singles.

Irvine Valley's lone win in doubles came from the No. 3 team of sophomore Samantha Paz and freshman Lauren MacDonnell, 8-3.

In singles, MacDonnell won her second match of the day, cruising on the sixth court over Adriana Duarte-Castro, 6-1, 6-1, to tie the match up in points at 2-2.

But Santa Monica picked up two of the next three wins in singles to take control.

Mayra Jovic defeated Irvine Valley sophomore Sarah Mae Garcia, 6-4, 6-2, on court one. IVC got a 6-4, 6-1 win from sophomore Lou Baize over Sabrina Subero at No. 4 singles.

Santa Monica's Srna Lepchevska beat IVC freshman Lorna Morris, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 3 singles to take a 4-3 lead.

In the final two singles matches, Irvine Valley and Santa Monica players split sets.

Abby Mullins clinched the match for Santa Monica with a 0-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over IVC sophomore Samantha Paz.

Irvine Valley still has individual players moving on to the State Tournament in Ojai later this month.

Singles

1) Mayra Jovic (SMC) def. Sarah Mae Garcia (IVC), 6-4, 6-2

2) Abby Mullins (SMC) def. Samantha Paz (IVC), 0-6, 6-1, 6-3

3) Srna Lepchevska (SMC) def. Lorna Morris (IVC), 6-3, 6-4

4) Lou Baize (IVC) def. Sabrina Subero (SMC), 6-4, 6-1

5) Iren Feher (SMC) vs. Fiorella Dreux (IVC), 7-5, 6-0 unfinished

6) Lauren MacDonnell (IVC) def. Adriana Duarte-Castro (SMC), 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

1) Jovic/Mullins (SMC) def. Garcia/Dreux (IVC), 8-4

2) Lepchevska/Feher (SMC) def. Baize/Morris (IVC), 8-2

3) Paz/MacDonnell (IVC) def. Subero/Duarte-Castro (SMC), 8-3