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Men’s Tennis Performs Well at Ojai Individual Championships

Men’s Tennis Performs Well at Ojai Individual Championships

The Beavers competed in their final event of the year at the Individual State Championships at Ojai. In the singles Younes Kodiji (#1), Stephen Guenard (#3), Sam Hall (#7), and Tommy Luu (#12) were all seeded for Northern California. Micah Erwin won his first round match as an unseeded player, before falling to SoCal #9 seed Julian Lafond (IVC) in the second round. Guenard and Hall both made runs to the third round before falling to SoCal seeded players Lucas LeGrand (CER) and Lirone Abecassis (GROS) respectively. Kodiji won a very tough third round match against #14 SoCal seed Tyler Edwards (SAD) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In the fourth round Kodiji lost a hard fought match against SoCal #6 Leszek Mirecki (IVC) 6-4, 6-4. At one point in the match, both players suffered extreme cramping at the same moment. Kodiji recovered better than Mirecki, and made a comeback, but was unable to come all the way back from the 5-2 second set deficit.

In the doubles the Beavers took it to a whole new level. Both of their top two teams were able to run through the first four rounds to earn a berth in the quarterfinals. The #3 NorCal seeded team of Younes Kodiji/Tommy Luu faced the Fullerton tandem of Jindrich Kosatik/Sergio Lee-Gutierrez (#11 SoCal seed) in the quarterfinals. It was a back and forth dogfight between the two teams, eventually culminating in a 10-point match tiebreak to determine the winner. The Fullerton team got up early and never looked back, closing out the Beaver pairing 10-6. In the other quarterfinal Stephen Guenard/Sam Hall played the #4 SoCal team of Bruno Duarte/Arthur Toledo (CER). Earlier in the year Duarte/Toledo had defeated the Beaver #1 team 8-2 in a dual team match. This time the Beavers were not going to be denied. The Beavers were extremely active and aggressive and dominated the net play. They were able to come back from an 8-4 deficit in the match tiebreak to win the match 10-8 in the third. "It was one of the most exciting moments of my coaching career." Explained coach Bo Jabery-Madison. " I am so proud of our guys for continuing to fight and work, even when we were down to such a talented opponent." In the semifinals Guenard/Hall faced the #1 SoCal seed Kallman Boyd/Alex Kuperstein (COD). The COD #1 team was too much for the Beaver #1 tandem, and ARC fell 6-2, 6-1. It was as close as any team would get to the Roadrunners on their way to the state championship. Despite the loss in the semis, it was an incredible run for Guenard/Hall, equaling the best finish by an ARC doubles team since 1966. Most recently Cody Duong/Alex Meliuk reached the semifinals of the doubles in 2016.

It was another amazing year for the Beavers, culminating with one of the most exciting Ojai runs in ARC men's tennis history. It was the seventh consecutive season the Beavers have reached at least the state semifinal and it will go down as yet another successful campaign for ARC men's tennis.