Irvine Valley's tennis team defeats Cypress to make state championship
Top-seeded Irvine Valley makes its fourth straight CCCAA State Championship match after defeating No. 3 Cypress, 5-2, Saturday at home. The two-time defending state champion Lasers will face off against American River in the final on Wednesday.
Irvine Valley's men's tennis team is back in the CCCAA State Championship match for the fourth year in a row.
The top-seeded and two-time defending state champion Lasers defeated No. 3 and Orange Empire Conference rival Cypress, 5-2, in the Southern California Regional Final on Saturday at home.
The Lasers improved their record to 18-0 overall. It was IVC's 34th straight win dating back to last season.
Irvine Valley will take on the No. 1 team from Northern California, American River, for the state title on Wednesday at the Pierpoint Racquet Club in Ventura. The Lasers beat American River, 5-1, to take the state title in 2016.
American River, which has a record of 17-1, defeated second-seeded Foothill, 5-1, on Saturday in the Northern California Regional Final to advance.
American River's lone loss this year came to Cerritos.
Irvine Valley's play in doubles on Saturday set the tone for its win over Cypress.
All three doubles matches were close and IVC captured two of the three contests to take control.
The freshmen duo of Wyatt DeMulling and Chris Politiek stayed unbeaten on the year with a 8-6 victory over Cypress' Yubo Chen and Gertjan De Wilder at No. 2 doubles.
Cypress pulled out a 8-6 win on the third court with Thomas Kyle and Ingmar Remmerswaal beating IVC's team of freshman Leszek Mirecki and sophomore Gavin Lynch.
And on the first court, the Irvine Valley sophomore team of Javier Callejo and Lucas Lesoeur came through with its biggest victory of the season, topping Maximilien Blancaneaux and Vincent Reynaud, 8-6.
Blancaneaux and Reynaud were co-doubles team of the year in the OEC along with IVC's DeMulling and Politiek.
Irvine Valley led, 2-1, after doubles and then showed the depth of its lineup in singles.
Politiek and freshman Ardi Safi each won easily on the fourth and fifth courts, respectively. And then Callejo earned IVC its fifth and deciding point with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Kyle at No. 3 singles.
Singles
1) Wyatt DeMulling (IVC) vs. Maximilien Blancaneaux (CYP) unfinished
2) Lucas Lesoeur (IVC) vs. Vincent Reynaud (CYP) unfinished
3) Javier Callejo (IVC) def. Thomas Kyle (CYP), 6-2, 7-6
4) Chris Politiek (IVC) def. Yubo Chen (CYP), 6-2, 6-0
5) Ardi Safi (IVC) def. Petrus Botha (CYP), 6-1, 6-1
6) Leszek Mirecki def. Ingmar Remmerswaal (CYP), unfinished
Doubles
1) Lesouer/Callejo (IVC) def. Blancaneaux/Reynaud (CYP), 8-5
2) DeMulling/Politiek (IVC) def. Chen/Gertjan De Wilder (CYP), 8-6
3) Kyle/Remmerswaal (CYP) def. Mirecki/Gavin Lynch (IVC), 8-6