Glendale Community College men’s tennis enjoys big first day in postseason

With three doubles teams and two singles players taking part in the California Community College Athletic Assn. State Regionals Thursday in Ventura County, Glendale Community College men’s tennis Coach Bob MacKay found himself going from one court to another to watch his players compete.

By the time the Vaqueros completed the first day of the regionals, MacKay already turned his attention to Friday’s action, as two doubles teams and one singles player were able to continue their seasons.

“We did well for the first day,” said MacKay, who guided Glendale to the Western State Conference championship for the first time since 2005. “A lot of our guys were able to hang in there while playing against top notch players from around the state.

“We will go back at it Friday and try to keep moving them along and maybe into the state tournament [in Ojai on Saturday and Sunday].”

What stood out most for MacKay was a second-round doubles match between Glendale’s Clayton Pauff and Cameron Braun against Fresno’s Joey Rivera and Matthew Alves. The Vaqueros duo rallied to post a 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 victory to advance to a round-of-32 match, against a team to be determined, at noon Friday at Oxnard Tennis Center. The winner will then partake in a round-of-16 match later Friday for the right to advance to the state tournament.

Braun and Pauff were on the brink of elimination in the tiebreaker, falling behind, 4-1. They then trailed, 8-6, before completing the comeback.

“We’ve been successful throughout the entire season in doubles,” MacKay said. “They know how to be able to hang in there, no matter the situation at hand.

“They felt like they could come back when they were down at 4-1 and 8-6. They stuck around and were able to grind it out all the way to the end.”

Pauff and Braun opened earlier Thursday with a 6-1, 3-1 (retired) win against Gabe DaCosta and Leo Matarazzo of Mount San Jacinto College.

Also picking up a second-round victory for Glendale was Dro Dermegerdichian and Oleg Simonyan. The duo paired up to register a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win against Alex Cortez and Marcelo Rodriguez of Imperial Valley. Dermegerdichian and Simoyan had a first-round bye.

“They have worked well together all season long and getting that first set was really big,” MacKay said. “They were able to put things together the whole way through.”

Dermegerdichian and Simonyan will next participate in a round-of-32 match at noon at Oxnard Tennis Center.

Also competing in doubles for the Vaqueros on Thursday were Hosep Orojian and Santiago Segovia. They had a first-round bye before seeing their season conclude after Mission College’s Cory Purser and Javier Lagarde earned a 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 win.

Orojian did enjoy success in singles, though. He had a first-round bye before notching a 6-4, 6-2 win against Santa Rosa’s John Sharp. Orojian will next compete in a round-of-32 match at 8 a.m. Friday at Pacifica High in Oxnard.

Dat Le of Glendale fell, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round to Jeffrey Gelman of Saddleback.

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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .