Glendale college’s men’s tennis sending contingent to Ojai
One Glendale Community College men’s tennis singles player and two doubles teams clinched a berth to the season-ending CCCAA Championship in Ojai on the second day of the Western State Conference Tournament Championships at Ventura College on Saturday.
Vaqueros sophomore David Preciado along with the doubles pair of Natsuki Abe and Daniel Garcia and Kevin Orellana and Preciado clinched berths, while the twosome of Kyle Moss and Jesse Breidenbach is still alive for a spot to Ojai.
“It’s not a bad day for us,” Glendale coach Chris Tissot said. “It was a tough day for some players, but there was also some very good news. The goal for us was to get as many people to qualify for Ojai as we could and to continue to build the momentum.”
Preciado and Orellana began the day unblemished in the championship singles bracket, but dropped quickly.
Ventura’s seventh-ranked Adrien Etiemble defeated the 11th-ranked Preciado, 6-1, 6-0, in the third round of Saturday’s opening action.
Preciado moved into the backdraw after the loss and rallied to defeat Los Angeles Pierce’s Daniel Vinterfeld, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 to earn a berth to the Ojai Tournament, which begins on April 25.
Preciado’s good fortune did not rub off on Orellana in singles play.
The No. 8-ranked Burbank High product lost to Pierce’s Siraj Dail in the third round, 5-7, 6-3, 10-4, which sank him into the backdraw.
With his season on the line, Orellana was defeated by Pierre Alexandre Fumat of Santa Barbara, 1-6, 6-1, 10-4.
In doubles action, the heat was on immediately as all three GCC entrants started the day in backdraw action.
Abe and Garcia continued their season with a 9-7 win over Bakersfield’s brothers duo of Ivan and Nayib Rivera to advance to Ojai.
Orellana and Preciado earned a spot to Ojai when the pair topped Bakersfield’s duo of Alec Slykerman and Conrad Dalton, 8-5, in the backdraw.
The only unsettled bit of business for Glendale revolves around Moss and Breidenbach.
The duo lost to Santa Barbara’s Albert Chami and Arthur Scharff, 8-2, in the backdraw.
The defeat was not a deathblow, however, as Moss and Breidenbach will have a second backdraw match Friday back at Ventura College at 1 p.m. to solidify a spot to Ojai.
The duo will face Pierce’s Andrew Kimelman and Eric Gil.
“We have one more match to go and we’re hoping for one more qualifier,” Tissot said.
