Irvine Valley's men's tennis team will be making its second straight appearance in the CCCAA Men's Tennis Dual Team final while Foothill is trying to complete a perfect season. The top seeds from the South and North will square off for the championship on Wednesday at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura, starting at 1 p.m.
Irvine Valley (17-1) downed No. 2 College of the Desert 5-0 in the Southern Cal Regional final. The Lasers beat the Roadrunners in the final for the second straight year. A year ago, Irvine advanced to the State final in its first-ever playoff appearance before falling to Fresno City, which won its third straight title with a 5-2 decision.
Third-year coach Ross Duncan missed last year's State final because he was playing for the United States in the ITA Senior World Team Championship. The former UC Santa Barbara standout will be at Pierpont to coach the Lasers this year.
"We have more well-rounded doubles play," said Duncan after the win over COD. "We have three really strong doubles teams. Another key is our depth. Our depth is just incredible. We have so many guys that can step up."
Sophomores Guillermo Ucelay and Simon Guillin are among the returners from last year's IVC squad. They posted the first win in doubles over Desert 8-1 and Guillin got the fourth point with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles.
Other key singles players for the Lasers include freshmen Flavien Raveau, Carson Williams, Tony Selim and Bruno Figlia. Figlia closed out the win over COD with a straight-set victory.
And also contributing in doubles have been the teams sophomore returner Max Rumeau and sophomore Valentin Baize and freshman Scott Paz and Williams.
Irvine Valley won the Orange Empire Conference, going 10-0 for the second straight year. The Lasers are 134-17 in individual matches this season. IVC has won seven straight since suffering its only loss to Concordia, a four-year ranked NAIA school.
Foothill, located in Los Altos Hills, is a 10-time State champion in men's tennis with the most recent titles coming in 1994 and 1997.
The Owls blanked No. 2 American River 5-0 in the Northern Cal final on April 18. Foothill is the only unbeaten team in the state.
Dixie Macias is in his 13th year as head coach and he guided the Owls to an 8-0 record in the Coast Conference. All eight wins were by 9-0 scores. Foothill has a 148-19 won-loss record in individual matches.
The Owls are led by Rihards Feldmanis, Brenden Lum and Felipe Resende. Braden Holt and Daniel Kim secured the Northern Cal title with straight-set wins at Nos. 4 and 6, respectively.
Release courtesy of Dave Loveton, Tennis State Championships SID and Santa Barbara City Sports Information with further details provided by IVC athletics.
