Lasers dominate San Diego Mesa, move closer to state championship

Irvine Valley College sophomore Guillermo Ucelay attempts to hit the ball against San Diego Mesa College. The Lasers defeated Mesa, 5-1 and will play College of the Canyons in the regional final.

Irvine Valley College’s men’s tennis team moved a little bit closer to their season goal on Tuesday. The Lasers defeated San Diego Mesa College, 5-1 and are now one win away from a second consecutive state championship berth.

IVC has been unstoppable all season and improved their overall record to 16-1 on Tuesday. The Lasers crushed Mesa earlier in the season by the score of 9-0.

The Olympians started off hot and expectedly beat the IVC duo of sophomore Valentin Baize and sophomore Max Rumeau. Mesa also got an early lead in the second match against IVC freshman Carson Williams and Scott Paz, but the Lasers ultimately pulled out the comeback victory. IVC head coach Ross Duncan gave his thoughts his teams early struggles.

“In the one match we lost, we got completely outplayed,” Duncan said. “It was a big occasion, but once we got settled down we were able to step it up and bring it back.”

Duncan was actually happy that his team trailed early. Most of the Lasers matches have been blowouts this season, so Duncan enjoyed seeing his team persevere and get the win.

“I was happy we were able to do that, because we haven’t been in many of our matches this season,” Duncan said. “It was a good thing for us.”

The Lasers went on to win their next four matches which included one doubles match and three singles matches. Sophomores Simon Guillin and Guillermo Ucelay won the doubles match and freshmen Bruno Figlia and Flavien Raveau won the singles matches. Ucelay won the other singles match, being the only IVC player to compete twice on the day.

The win now solidifies a spot for the Lasers in the Dual Team Regional Finals. IVC will matchup with College of the Desert, whom the Lasers played in last seasons regional final. Duncan gave his thoughts on the next match.

“I expect some incredibly tough singles matches,” Duncan said. “Hopefully we can get an edge in the doubles going into singles, I think that could be the difference.”

The Lasers and Roadrunners will battle on Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. The match will take place at IVC.

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