Two Glendale college men’s tennis singles players advance in conference tourney
Though the Glendale Community College men’s tennis team won’t be a part of the postseason, there’s still an opportunity for several members to advance to the state tournament.
Glendale’s Kevin Orellana and David Preciado passed their first tests Friday at the Western State Conference Tournament at Ventura College.
Orellana and Preciado, who received first-round byes, swept through their round-of-32 matches Friday to advance to the round-of-16 contests Saturday at the same venue. Should they win their matches Saturday, they will automatically advance to the Ojai Invitational, which serves as the state tournament at the junior college level.
Orellana opened with a 6-4, 6-4 win versus Alexander Martin of Ventura. Preciado posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Mario Caballva of Bakersfield.
Singles action will resume at 11:15 a.m. Saturday. Should the GCC players lose, they will compete in a back draw match for the right to move on to Ojai.
“Both of them played very well,” said Glendale first-year coach Chris Tissot, whose team finished 4-11, 2-6 in conference for fourth place. “It’s always a tough tournament and there are so many excellent players.
“Kevin had a tough match, but he found a way to come through in the end. It will give him a lot of confidence. David had to fight through some tough stretches and he stayed with it.”
Five other Glendale players participated in singles, though none were able to extend their seasons.
Daniel Garcia of Glendale suffered a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Santa Barbara’s Adam Scharff, Kyle Moss fell, 6-0, 6-0, to Daniel Binterfeld of L.A. Pierce, Eric Minassian lost, 6-0, 6-0, to Augusten Lestelle of Ventura, Natsuki Abe lost, 6-1, 6-0, to Kaleb Johnson of Bakersfield and Jesse Breidenbach suffered an 8-1 loss to Nicholas Rivera of Bakersfield.
In doubles, Orellana and Preciado lost, 8-2, to Rodrigo Perdago and Lestelle. Garcia and Abe suffered an 8-1 defeat versus Binderfeld and Siraj Dail and Moss and Breidenbach fell, 8-1, to Gabin Dail and Darvel Lossangoye of Pierce.
“We’ll look to see how are doubles guys respond again and they still have an opportunity to make it to Ojai,” Tissot said.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
