Ventura College men win state title, Pac-12 crowns final champs at Ojai Tennis Tournament

Nelson Emery was aiming for two of the three doubles matches.

When his Ventura College men’s tennis team took all three to open the California Community College Athletic Association State championship last Wednesday at the VC Tennis Center, the Pirates were well on their way to the program’s third state championship.

"The doubles sweep was huge," said Emery.

Julian Tellez clinched the match from No. 4 singles as VC swept American River College, 5-0, in the dual team state final that kicked off the 122nd Ojai Tennis Tournament.

“This is why I'm here,” said Tellez. “This is what I've been working for. It was state title time.”

The state title was the third for Emery at VC, but first since 2010.

“We played, we battled, (we're a) bunch of fighters,” said Emery, who has led VC to 12 state Final Fours in his 26 seasons. “We've had more talented teams, but this team had the toughness.”

It was also a family affair. The Pirates were led by Cody Ray Emery at No. 1 singles, a Ventura High graduate and the son of the head coach.

"It feels awesome to win, especially with my dad," said the younger Emery. "It's crazy how things worked out."

VC took a 3-0 lead after doubles play. Emery and Lucas Abreu edged Enrique Silveira and Gavin Sonntag, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles.

Rafael Matias and Julian Tellez won the last three games to handle Spencer Hill and Arjun Sivakumar, 8-4, at No. 2 doubles.

Robinson Pelluault and Edgar Ploquin beat Tarang Sharma and Shane Timmons, 8-3, at No. 3 doubles.

"I thought if we could get two doubles, we could split singles,” Nelson Emery said. “We won all three."

Matias swept Silveira, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 2 singles to give the Pirates a 4-0 stranglehold.

Soon thereafter, Tellez topped Hill, 6-2, 6-0, to clinch the match.

VC won its last 11 matches to complete its season at 18-6.

For the record, Emery led Sonntag at No. 1 singles 6-2, 2-2, when the celebration began. Abreu, Pelluault and Ploquin were all up a set, as well.

American River College defeated Orange Coast College 5-0 to win the women's state title.

Pac-12 champions

In the final year of the Pac-12 at The Ojai, second-seeded Arizona defeated top-seeded Stanford 4-0 on Saturday to win the men's conference title for the first time in program history.

It was the first time a men's team other than UCLA or USC won the title since the team format was introduced in 2012, and also the first time a team other than UCLA, USC or Stanford won the Pac-12 men's title in any format in the 69-year history of the conference’s participation at The Ojai.

Driven by football programs leaving the conference, the Pac-12 will be dissolved at the end of this school year.

Second-seeded Stanford defeated fourth-seeded UC Berkeley 4-0 on Saturday to capture the final Pac-12 women's team title.

The Cardinal won its sixth Pac-12 title since the women's team format was introduced in 2017 and third straight at the conference tournament at The Ojai.

The Ojai winners

• Fifth-seeded Alessandro Ventre of Santa Ana defeated Dylan Charlap of Palos Verdes Estates, 6-2, 6-3, to win the Men's Open singles title.
• Top-seeded Chanel Simmonds of San Diego defeated Julia Ronney of San Diego, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Women's Open singles title.
• Clay Thompson of Venice and Alexander Sarkissian of Studio City beat Alessandro Ventre of Studio City and Victor Severo Castro of Huntington Beach, 6-4, 6-4, to win the Men's Open doubles title.
• Natalie Da Silveira of Ojai and Shakhnoza Khatamova of Goleta defeated Chanel Simmonds of San Diego and Makeilah Nepomuceno of Rosemead, 7-5, 6-3, to win the Women's Open doubles title.
• Corona del Mar High's Niels Hoffmann, the top seed, defeated second-seeded Lorenzo Brunkow of Palisades High, 6-1, 6-3, to win the Boys' CIF Singles title.
• Beckman High's Caden Lee and Tyler Lee beat Claremont High's Caleb Settles and Mateen Ghafarshad, 6-2, 6-3, to win the Boys' CIF Doubles title.
• Top-seeded Christian Rohrberg of Palos Verdes Estates defeated second-seeded Ryan Meis of Ladera Ranch, 6-3, 7-5, to win the Boys' 14s Singles title.
• Top-seeded Cayden Laughton of Portland, Oregon, beat second-seeded Yu-Hong Chen of Irvine, 7-6 (3), 6-2, to win the Boys' 16s Singles title.
• Fifth-seeded Kyla Laughton of Portland, Oregon, beat second-seeded Damahria Clark of Los Angeles, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Girls' 14 Singles title.
• Top-seeded Olivia Lewis of Yucaipa defeated seventh-seeded Cassie Blakey of Palos Verdes, 6-2, 6-1, to win the Girls' 16 Singles title.
• Top-seeded Reagan Levine of Laguna Beach defeated second-seeded Andra Braicu of Menlo Park, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-0, to win the Girls' 18 Singles title.
• Top-seeded Stella Simpson-Morgan of Rolling Hill and Reagan Levine of Laguna Beach defeated second-seeded Ava Min of Rolling Hills Estates and Cassie Blakey of Palos Verdes Estates, 6-3, 6-3, to win the Girls' 18 Doubles title.
• Yash Nagdev of Whittier College defeated Brett Miller of Occidental College, 6-3, 7-5, to win the Men’s Division III West Singles title.
• Omar Khayat and Nicolas Calixto of the University of Redlands defeated Julius Clasen and Ahmed Amer of Whittier College, 6-3, 6-3, to win the Men’s Division III West Doubles title.
• Yuiko Rayna of the University of Redlands defeated Kiana Brady of the University of Redlands, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, to win the Women’s Division III Invitational Singles title.
• Mari Carmen Bufkin and Mina Ahmadi of Cal Lutheran University defeated Elina Shalaev and Sebaga Kombo of Occidental College, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Women’s Division III Invitational Doubles title.
• Jean-Baptiste Badon of Glendale College defeated Sebastian Junghanns of Bakersfield College, 6-4, 6-0, to win the Men’s California Community College Athletic Association Singles title.
• Nick Grove and Luciano Pardo of Irvine Valley College defeated Lance Morgan and Adam Ridaoui of Glendale College, 7-5, 6-7 (6), 7-5, to win the Men’s California Community College Athletic Association Doubles title.
• Nahreen Cheam of American River College defeated Julianna Vich of Mount San Antonio College, 6-4, 7-5, to win the Women’s California Community College Athletic Association Singles title.
• Julianna Vich and Paige Valenzuela of Mount San Antonio College defeated Emily Thieme and Janine Kremling of Riverside City College, 6-0, 6-3, to win the Women’s California Community College Athletic Association Doubles title.