ARC Reaches State Championship Match for Third Consecutive Season

ARC-0                    IVC-5

Overall: 15-3       Conference: 6-0

For the third consecutive year the Beavers reached the dual-team state championship match in Ojai against the Southern California champion. For the third straight year they fell short in their bid for their first state title since 1966. In 2016 and 2017 the Irvine Valley College Lasers beat the Beavers in the state final. This year the Cerritos Falcons beat ARC for the state championship. "It was another incredibly successful season for us as a team." Explained coach Bo Jabery-Madison, "We got the absolute most out of ourselves in the biggest moments. That is success, and this team exemplifies success." On paper the Beavers were heavy underdogs to the Falcons, as Cerritos had a strong international contingency (six of the seven players competing for the Falcons were international), and a heavy advantage in the experience department. None the less, the Beavers came out fired up and made every match close and competitive, before finally falling at #1 singles (Paul Bhatia) 6-2, 6-3 and #5 singles (Andrei Anderson) 6-2, 6-4, to give the Falcons the clinch and the championship. Next up for American River is the Individual Championships at Ojai, in which all six singles players and all three doubles teams qualified. Paul Bhatia will be the #1 seed in singles for NorCal in the event and the doubles tandem of Sam Hall and Mikey Vizcarra will be seeded #1 in NorCal for the doubles.