The Cerritos College men's tennis team gave fourth-year head coach Alvin Kim his first post-season win on Tuesday, as they defeated Orange Coast College (12-6), 5-1 in the first round of the Southern California Regional Team Playoffs. Although they had gone undefeated all four seasons in conference play, Kim had not led his team to a post-season win. The #4-seeded Falcons (18-1) will now advance to the next round, where they will travel to #2-seeded Grossmont College next Tuesday.
It was the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with Cerritos recording a 9-0 non-conference win. Just as they did in their first meeting, the Falcons received several outstanding performances in recording the victory.
Freshman Doug Edwards (Western HS), fresh off his singles title in the South Coast Conference tournament, defeated Gio Villicana, 6-1, 6-3 in the #1 singles match. Edwards, ranked #5 in Southern California, swept Villacana for the second time this season, while freshman Carlos Gomez (Kennedy HS) kept things in the Falcons favor, as he posted a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Landon Draper.
Cerritos opened the match with quick wins at #3 and #4 singles when freshman Jason Wall (Lakewood HS) and Nik Bote (Mayfair HS) each won their matches by a 6-2, 6-1 count. Freshman Mike Fitzgerald (Lakewood HS) recorded the other win, 6-3, 6-4, with freshman David Sim (Cerritos HS) suffering the lone setback, as Kevin Tran posted a 6-0, 6-4 win.
Singles
Doug Edwards (CERR) def. Gio Villicana (OCC), 6-1, 6-3
Carlos Gomez (CERR) d. Landon Draper (OCC), 6-0, 6-3
Jason Wall (CERR) def. Pat Lam (OCC), 6-2, 6-1
Nik Bote (CERR) def. Kevin Kordestani (OCC), 6-2, 6-1
Kevin Tran (OCC) def. David Sim (CERR), 6-0, 6-4
Mike Fitzgerald (CERR) def. Kevin Saenz (OCC), 6-3, 6-4
