Singles save the day as Glendale Community College women’s tennis bests Irvine Valley

GLENDALE — Following a bit of a sluggish effort together in doubles, Amy Shigenaga and Elizabeth Sanchez regained their focus in singles at a time when the Glendale Community College women’s team needed them to.

The duo, which helped Glendale win its first Western State Conference championship this season, rebounded quickly to extend the Vaqueros’ season.

Shigenaga and Sanchez each won their respective singles sets to help power second-seeded Glendale to a 5-2 home win against seventh-seeded Irvine Valley on Tuesday in a Southern California Regional opening-round match.

PHOTOS: Shigenaga, Sanchez help Vaqueros overcome deficit against Irvine Valley

Glendale (16-2) won its seventh match in a row and will meet fourth-seeded Cerritos, which notched a 5-2 win against fifth-seeded Santa Barbara on Tuesday, in a second-round match at 2 p.m. April 14 at Glendale. Irvine Valley (10-6) won two of three doubles sets to grab a 2-1 lead entering singles action before Glendale mounted its rally by winning four singles sets.

“In doubles, I was just off,” Shigenaga said. “I’m usually a slow starter to begin with and you start to feel the pressure.

“When I got into singles, I started to relax and just play my game. I think we are strong from top to bottom in singles and that helped us pull through.”

Shigenaga and Sanchez suffered an 8-6 doubles defeat to Marissa Woolsey and Ashley Athanas. Shigenaga then picked up a 6-4, 6-3 singles win against Ruth Chou and Sanchez sewed up the win for Glendale with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory against Woolsey.

“They came out hard after us in doubles,” Sanchez said. “Amy and I just weren’t clicking for some reason.

“I think I was more confident in singles. When I lost the first sets in singles, I started to feel a little pressure because I didn’t want to let my teammates down. I got better after the first set and it feels like 100 pounds has been lifted off my shoulders and I’m glad we were able to win. It’s a huge thing.”

Glendale, which registered a 7-2 nonconference home win against Irvine Valley on Feb. 12, received an 8-3 win in doubles from Brigitta Benitez and Meredy Gharabegi. Irvine Valley got an 8-3 victory from Christie Yamasaki and Chou.

Gharabegi picked up a 6-3, 6-0 win against Tiana Cung to knot the match at 2. Shigenaga’s win gave the Vaqueros a 3-2 lead. Glendale’s Ayaka Takeuchi then earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Parmida Navabsafavi and Sanchez clinched the victory for the Vaqueros by besting Woolsey.

Glendale second-year Coach Deo Sy said Irvine Valley, which finished second in the Orange Empire Conference behind Riverside, caught Glendale off guard early in the match.

“They have a good team and are not to be taken lightly,” said Sy, whose team is second in Intercollegiate Tennis Assn’s. California Junior/Community Colleges Southern California rankings behind top-seeded Mount San Antonio College. “They came out ready and they pushed us hard in doubles.

“We had to calm down going into singles and our players knew what they had to do to get the job done. It became like a domino effect in singles. We just kept pushing forward to get those wins.”