Irvine Valley making return trip to the State Championships

Irvine Valley's men's tennis team is headed back to the Team State Championships for the second straight year.

The Lasers won the first five matches completed and defeated College of the Desert, 5-0, in the California Community College Athletic Association dual team Southern California regional playoff final on Saturday at home.

It was the second year in a row that IVC, seeded first, beat COD in the regional final.

Last year's match went down to the wire with IVC winning, 5-4, in dramatic fashion in the final contest left out on the courts.

Saturday's match was decided a lot earlier.

The Lasers raced out to a 3-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches and never looked back.

"I think the difference between this year and last year's team is that we have more well-rounded doubles play," IVC coach Ross Duncan said. "We have three really strong doubles teams. Another key is our depth. Our depth is just incredible. We have so many different guys that can step up."

Irvine Valley's top doubles team of sophomores Guillermo Ucelay and Simon Guillin was first off the courts with an 8-1 victory over David Bensonssan and Pedro Carle.

Irvine Valley's third team of freshmen Scott Paz and Carson Williams were next to step up with an 8-3 victory.

And the Laser No. 2 duo of sophomore Max Rumeau and freshman Valentin Baize rallied from a break down to win 8-6 over Felipe Fuentes and Shimon Murakami.

Irvine Valley had all of the momentum heading into singles and needed just two wins to wrap up the overall team victory.

That happened about an hour into singles play when Guillin, who played one of his best matches of the season, defeated Sam Cohen, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 2 position and then freshman Bruno Figlia downed Pablo Blasco Torres, 6-1, 6-3.

The other four singles matches were split at the time with College of the Desert players up a set at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots and Irvine Valley players ahead on the No. 1 and No. 5 courts.

Those matches were halted as soon as Guillin and Figlia got Irvine Valley to the five matches it needed for the win.

"This feels good and the boys played great today, but we have one more match to go," Duncan said. "We have to stay focused."

Irvine Valley fell in the State Championship last season to Fresno City in the Lasers' first ever appearance in the state final.

The Lasers, who improved their record to 17-1 on the year with Saturday's win, will face the top team from Northern California, Foothill, in the title match next Wednesday at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura at 1 p.m.

Foothill defeated American River, 5-0, on Saturday to move on to the final. Foothill has a record of 20-0 on the season and won the Coast Conference.

Irvine Valley def. College of the Desert, 5-0

Doubles

1) Guillermo Ucelay/Simon Guillin (IVC) def. David Bensoussan/Pedro Carle (COD), 8-1

2) Max Rumeau/Valentin Baize (IVC) def. Felipe Fuentes/Shimon Murakami (COD), 8-6

3) Scott Paz/Carson Williams (IVC) def. Sam Cohen/Stephen Biboum (COD), 8-3

Singles

1) Ucelay (IVC) vs. Bensoussan (COD) unfinished

2) Guillin (IVC) def. Cohen (COD), 6-1, 6-3

3) Flavien Raveau (IVC) vs. Fuentes (COD) unfinished

4) Williams (IVC) vs. Murakami (COD) unfinished

5) Tony Selim (IVC) vs. Carle (COD) unfinished

6) Bruno Figlia (IVC) def. Pablo Blasco Torres (COD), 6-1, 6-3