Tajima and Jabin Finsh as State Runners-Up at The Ojai

The VC men's tennis doubles team of Jinsei Tajima and Philemon Jabin finished a stellar two-year career with the Pirates by claiming the silver medal in the CCCAA State Doubles Tournament completed Sunday at The Ojai Tournament. The duo won their semifinal match in the morning before falling in a supertiebreaker in the afternoon at Libbey Park in Ojai.

In the morning, Tajima and Jabin, the No. 3-seed from Southern California, defeated the SoCal No. 5-seed from Riverside, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the state final.

The final matched up the Pirate team against the SoCal No. 2-seed from College of the Desert.  The tension built throughout the afternoon as the match, scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm, was delayed until 3:30 pm due to earlier matches running long.

The VC pair looked good early, breaking the Roadrunners in the third game of the first set to gain the upper hand, 3-1. COD regained momentum, however, and was able to even the set at 3-3, and then at 4-4.  After the fourth deuce in the next game on Jabin's serve, Tajima nailed a volley at the net to hold serve and put the duo one break away from the set.  Jabin and Tajima won the next game with a series of volleys in the mid court to take the first set 6-4.

The second set began with both teams holding serve to a 1-1 tie.  The 'Runners broke the Pirates' serve in the third game and the energy and momentum seemed to shift. Desert moved ahead 3-1 and 4-2 before riding the momentum to take the second set 6-2.

In the supertiebreaker, the Roadrunner pair kept the momentum, winning three of the first four points to take control. Tajima and Jabin pulled to within 5-3 at one point but could get no closer as COD claimed the title 10-4.

Despite the loss, Tajima and Jabin still had a spectacular season and special careers in the orange and black.