Irvine Valley sophomore men's tennis standout Scott Paz has signed with Eastern Washington.
Paz helped Irvine Valley to two straight California Community College Athletic Association state titles along with two Orange Empire Conference titles.
Irvine Valley had a record of 39-3 during his two years at the school with all three losses coming to four-year colleges.
Before joining the Lasers, the Southern California native was a captain and four-time MVP at Trabuco Hills High School.
"I am very excited about having Scott join the team next year," said Eastern Washington coach Steve Clark. "Scott is one of the top JC players out of SoCal – No. 1 doubles and may be about top 10 singles – with a passion for the game, great attitude and work ethic, a nice all-around game, and is SoCal born and raised in the tennis culture. You've got to love his aggressive game. He has a very solid UTR of 12 and that will get only better with our schedule and his work ethic."
This past season, Paz also captured the state doubles title with partner and fellow sophomore Bruno Figlia at the prestigious Ojai Tournament.
The doubles final was an all-IVC affair with the fourth-seeded team of Figlia and Paz outlasting teammates and the top-seeded team of sophomore Sam Cohen and Javier Callejo, 5-7, 6-4; 10-4 in the super tiebreaker.
It was the second straight year that Irvine Valley teams met each other in the state doubles final.
Figlia and Paz capped two-year Irvine Valley careers that saw them help Irvine Valley go 20-0 in the Orange Empire Conference, win two conference team titles, capture two team state titles as well as claim the doubles state championship.
Paz had a record of 18-1 in doubles this past season, including going 11-0 with Figlia.
He also finished with a solid record of 14-2 in singles for Irvine Valley during the 2016 season, playing mostly in the No. 3 to No. 5 positions.
Eastern Washington had a record of 8-18 overall last season. The Eagles will have seven players returning to the team for the 2016-17 season.
