Men's Tennis Sweeps Honors at WSC Championships

The Ventura College men's tennis team swept the singles and doubles titles at the conclusion of the Western State Conference Championships Friday at the VC Tennis Center.  No. 1-seed Hironori Koyanagi defeated teammate and No. 3-seed Corey Karen before the two teamed up to defeat teammates Guenter Newman and Michael Burr for the doubles title.

The day began with the much-anticipated match-up between the undefeated Koyanagi and VC's No. 2 singles player, Karen.  Koyanagi kept his undefeated season intact, winning his 17th straight match of the season in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.  Karen dropped to a solid 14-3 on the year.

in the doubles semifinals that followed, the top seeded duo of Koyanagi and Karen teamed up to win their match 6-4, 6-4 while teammates and unseeded Newman and Burr defeated the No. 2 seeds from Glendale in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 to advance to the final.  in the championship match, Koyanagi and Karen defeated their teammates 6-1, 6-4 to claim the title.

It was the first time in program history that VC held both spots in both the singles and doubles finals at the conference tournament, according to head coach Nelson Emery.

Next up for the Pirates is the CCCAA State Championships held in conjunction with The Ojai Tournament beginning April 23.  Ventura will be well-represented with Koyanagi, Karen, Victor Ribeiro, Ricardo Martin, Newman and Burr all participating in the draw.  Additionally, VC will have four doubles teams playing, including Koyanagi and Karen, Newman and Burr, Leonardo Santos and Ribeiro, and Martin and Florent Auteuil.