Irvine Valley hopes to complete a perfect season with its third straight CCCAA State Dual Team Men's Tennis Championship and the opponent is familiar.The Lasers, the No. 1 seed from the South, will battle American River, the No. 1 team from the North, for the second straight year in the final. They'll clash on Wednesday at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura with the first serve at 1 p.m.
This is the fourth straight trip to the State final for Irvine Valley, which is led by defending state singles champion Javier Callejo. American River won a state title in 1966.
IVC beat ARC 5-1 to win last year's state trophy at Ventura College.
Irvine Valley is 18-0 this year and 74-6 in the last four seasons under head coach Ross Duncan. The Lasers have a 34-match winning streak and they're 57-3 in the last three years with all three losses coming to four-year schools. They have a 57-match win streak versus community college teams.
IVC won its fourth straight Orange Empire Conference title with a 10-0 record. They blanked No. 8 San Diego City 5-0 and No. 5 Saddleback 5-0 to open the Southern Cal Regional, then beat OEC runner-up and No. 3 Cypress 5-2 in the final.
Callejo, a sophomore from Madrid, Spain, is a top singles player along with Wyatt DeMulling, Lucas Lesoeur and Chris Politiek. Politiek, IVC's No. 4 player, is undefeated on the season.
Callejo and Lesoeur and DeMulling and Politiek also make up Irvine Valley's top two doubles team. DeMulling and Politiek were recently named the co-doubles team of the year in the OEC.
American River is 17-1 with a seven-match win streak. American River claimed its seventh straight Big 8 North title with a 7-0 record. Coach Bo Jabery-Madison is 180-30 in his 13th season.
The Beavers cruised to three wins in the Northern Cal Regional, beating No. 8 Modesto 9-0, No. 3 De Anza 5-0 and No. 2 Foothill 5-1.
ARC is led by brothers Tam Duong (12-1 in singles) and Cody Duong (12-2). Michael Vizcarra is 14-2 in singles. The Duong brothers are 16-1 in doubles with their only loss coming to a ranked team from George Fox, a four-year school in Oregon.
