GCC’s top two go on in singles

GLENDALE — After breezing through the first day of the Western State Conference Tournament at Ventura College in both singles and doubles play on Friday, Glendale Community College men’s tennis players Alex Sarkissian and Trevor Campbell seemed to remain in cruise control through Saturday’s round of 16.

To hear Vaqueros Coach Bob MacKay summarize it, his top duo is yet to encounter a challenge capable of raising their pulse.

“For Alex, another day at the office and Trevor just [had] a nice, relaxed day on the tennis court,” MacKay said.

Sarkissian, the No. 1 seed, rolled over L.A. Pierce College’s Sean Bullaghan, 6-0, 6-1, to improve to 21-0 on the season in singles play, while Campbell, seeded eighth, posted an equally dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Santa Barbara City College’s Reggie Fastreg.

Both qualified for the Southern California Regionals in singles, one day after pulling the same feat in doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kevin Paul and AJ Minasian of L.A. Pierce.

“He’s got a huge target on himself,” MacKay said of Sarkissian. “For him to go out and just take care of business as fast as he did is amazing. He just takes care of business.”

Campbell, a Burroughs High graduate, said he focused on staying calm and relaxed in order to perform well against Fastreg on Saturday.

“Today I just tried to enjoy the playoff game and I really tried not to take it so seriously,” Campbell said. “Also, I noticed my opponent, he’s a good player, but today he just seemed a little off.

“I just played my own game and everything went well.”

MacKay noticed the coolness of Campbell’s demeanor on the court immediately and said it went a long way toward his success.

“Trevor, of all the matches he’s played for me this year, today was probably the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him play,” MacKay said. “When you’re relaxed, everything goes smoothly for you. When you get tense and tight, you have a tendency to play that way. He just had fun and you could definitely see his body was much more relaxed playing today and you could definitely realize his opponent was in trouble.”

Sarkissian and Campbell will compete in singles and doubles at the regionals, which will be held May 5-7 in Palm Desert.

“It should be fun,” Campbell said.

Two Vaqueros doubles teams also competed in the round of 16 on Saturday, but neither advanced.

Eric Khanlarian and Andre Ratavousian were defeated by third-seeded Thomas Millet and Paolo Fernandez of Ventura, 6-1, 6-1.

“Andre and Eric had to play a very tough team and they did their best,” MacKay said of his tandem, which picked up a 6-2, 6-4 first-round win against Thomas and Cesar Ruiz of Bakersfield on Friday. “They had a good win yesterday, but they were just overmatched today. They played hard, it’s not a matter of a match they should have won.”

Grayson Frazier and Mike Astorian, a Glendale High graduate, suffered a 6-4, 6-2 loss to seventh-seeded Gabriel Vlahos and Pedro Ayala of Ventura College after losing the upper hand in a competitive first set.

“Michael and Grayson had their moments,” MacKay said. “They just didn’t win the big points, but they also played a very good team.

“Sometimes when a set slips away a little bit, you have a tendency of not being able to recapture yourself and I think that’s what happened today.”