VC qualifies Four Singles, Three Doubles Teams for State

The Pirates' men's tennis team had a solid pair of days at the Western State Conference Championships Friday and Saturday, qualifying four singles players and three doubles teams for the 3C2A State Championships at The Ojai Tournament later this month.

Rafael Matias led the effort with his runner-up finish in singles play while Yusen Sato, Yanis Guerrout and Haru Nakayama all will advance in singles. Matias and Guerrout, and Sato and Nakayama both played in the WSC semifinals while Max Beaudry and Manolo Vanbesien also qualified for state.

Matias advanced to the singles final with a pair of wins on Friday. The No. 2-seed defeated the 11-th ranked player from Glendale in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-1 before winning the semifinal against the No. 4 player from Bakersfield, 6-2, 1-0, ret.  He dropped Saturday's final to the No. 1-seed from Santa Barbara, 6-3, 6-2.

No. 6-seed Sato also moved to the semifinal round in singles. He defeated the third-seeded player from Glendale, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday before an injury forced him to retire despite leading the top seed in the semifinal, 6-4, 5-5, ret.

Guerrout, who also qualified for state by moving to the quarterfinals, dropped his first match on Friday to the No. 4-seed from Bakersfield, 6-4, 6-3.

Nakayama had to battle through the back draw to qualify for The Ojai. He defeated teammate Beaudry 7-5, 6-1 Friday before besting the No. 7-seed from Glendale in a super-tiebreaker, -5, 4-6, (10-2).

Vanbesien dropped his first backdraw match 6-4, 6-3 and Leo Pham also fell 6-3, 6-3. Ariitea Cotti-Helme also lost his first backdraw match in a super-tiebreaker, 7-6(5), 1-6, (10-6).

VC's top doubles pair Matias and Guerrout won their quarterfinal match Friday. The No. 3 seeds posted a 8-0 sweep over the No. 7-ranked team from Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, they could not find the same magic in Saturday's semifinal, falling to the No. 1-seeds from Glendale, 6-4, 6-3.

Sato and Nakayama, seeded No. 5, also moved to the semifinals with a 9-7 victory over the No. 4 team from Bakersfield Friday before dropping Saturday's semifinal, 6-0, 6-4 to the No. 2 duo from Santa Barbara. 

Beaudry and Vanbesien, who qualified for state with a win on Thursday, dropped their quarterfinal match to the top-seeded pair, 8-2.

Cotti-Helme and Jules Marquez Fichet battled through the backdraw, defeating the No. 9-ranked team from Glendale, 9-7, and beat a duo from Santa Barbara 8-2 to finish ninth in the draw.

The Pirate team will most likely be seeded No. 1 in the 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs that begin Tuesday April 8. The road to another title for the defending state champions will not leave campus as VC will again be hosting the state title match on Wednesday April 23 on the first day of The Ojai.