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GCC doubles tandem stopped

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An appearance in the California Community College Athletic Assn. State Tournament was a goal leading up to the season for Sevana Zargarian and Samantha Sismundo.

The Glendale Community College top women’s doubles team got through each obstacle in the Western State Conference and Southern California Regionals to reach the state tournament for the first time.

Unfortunately for the duo, their run fell short, as Zargarian and Sismundo suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) loss to Fresno City College’s Kate Abston and Regina Leyba on Friday afternoon in a round-of-16 match at Balboa Tennis Club in San Diego.

Zargarian and Sismundo, who previously starred at Glendale High and are a former All-Area Girls’ Tennis Doubles Team of the Year, reached the state tournament May 5 after posting a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Ventura’s Jessica Worring and Sonia Landeros in the regionals.

Zargarian said the Vaqueros encountered a rough start in the first set, forcing them to play catch up.

“We were a little off in the first set and I’m not sure what the reason was,” Zargarian said. “Other times, we could have fixed what was going wrong, but they were a good team.

“In the second set, we were able to fight back and make it much closer. We hoped to win the second set, but it came down to a few mistakes here and there. The experience was kind of cool because we got to see teams from around the state and we made it pretty far.”

Sismundo said overcoming a slow start took its toll.

“We just got down in that first set because of a few errors,” Sismundo said. “I think that we maybe underestimated them a little early in the first set and that led to us making those errors.

“We pulled it together and played much better [in the second set]. It’s once in a lifetime just to get this far. It’s been a successful season and having the honor to get to state was great.”

Zargarian and Sismundo have played an exhausting schedule during the past month. They made a run all the way to the 112th annual Ojai Valley Tournament Women’s Community College Doubles tournament semifinals in late April.

charles.rich@latimes.com

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