Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Men’s Tennis Dominates Day One of OEC Individual Championships

The Riverside City College men's tennis team competed in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) Singles & Doubles Championships on Thursday in hopes of qualifying for the Singles & Doubles State Championships hosted in Ojai, CA. All singles players received byes through the round of 64 to set up second round matches in a round of 32. Each singles member advances to the round of 16 after defeating their opponents. Additionally, all three Tiger's doubles teams dominated the round of 16 to advance to the final day of action.

Freshman Kayne Trustfull (Amsterdam, Netherlands) received the top seed in the entire tournament to earn himself a first-round bye. He continued on to defeat Orange Coast's Doug Nguyen in the round of 32 in dominant fashion reading 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Thomas Pidoux (Perpignon, France) acted as the second seed in the tournament to earn a bye as well. He continued on to dominate his round of 32 opponent by beating Saddleback's Oliver Ludwig by the final score of 6-1, 6-2.

Freshman Elie-Noe Nicolay (Luxembourg, Belgium) earned the eight seed and defeated his opponent in the second round in three sets with scores reading 6-1, 2-6, 10-8. Sophomore Sami Akouz (Perpignan, France), who was the 11th seed, followed with a two set victory in the second round by the final count of 6-2, 6-3. Freshman Miles Clark (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) came in as the 14th seed and reign supreme in way of sweep by the final scores of 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Thierry van Os (Spijkenisse, Netherands), who came in unseeded, earned a three-set victory by the final count of 3-6, 6-3, 10-2.

The doubles were just as strong with the second-ranked squad consisting of Trustfull and Pidoux earning an 8-4 victory. Akouz and van Os, the fourth-ranked team, earned an 8-1 victory, while the 10th-ranked team consisting of Clark and Nicolay mirrored their counterparts with an 8-1 win.

The Tigers continue play on Friday, April 13th in the final round of the OEC Championships to determine a winner and all-conference members.