Men's Tennis Splits Day 1 of North/South Challenge

Corey Karen won two singles matches and teamed with Hironori Koyanagi to win twice in doubles on the first day of the North/South Challenge in Fresno Friday.
Corey Karen won two singles matches and teamed with Hironori Koyanagi to win twice in doubles on the first day of the North/South Challenge in Fresno Friday.

Traveling to Fresno City College for the North/South Challenge, the Pirates' men's tennis team split a pair of matches Friday.  VC dropped another narrow decision, 5-4 to Foothill College and defeated host Fresno City College easily, 8-1.  Hironori Koyanagi and Corey Karen were undefeated on the day at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, and together at No. 1 doubles.

VC was down 2-1 after doubles play against Foothill, with a win at No. 1 with Koyanagi and Karen.  They could not overcome the deficit in singles, splitting the six matches.  Koyanagi (No. 1), Karen (No. 2) and Victor Ribeiro (No. 5) all posted victories.

Ventura easily defeated Fresno in a rematch of the 2013 state championship dual match.  The Pirates swept doubles with Koyanagi and Karen (No. 1), Ribeiro and Leonardo Santos (No. 2) and Florent Auteuil and Ricardo Martin (No. 3) all winning their matches.  VC also dominated singles with five of six wins.

THe Pirates will close the challenge in Fresno on Saturday March 14 with a match against Chabot College at 11:00 am.

Ventura 4, Foothill 5 - Friday 3-13-15

Doubles
1. Koyanagi/Karen (VC) def. Frldmanis/Resende (FC) 8-0
2. Newman/Burr (VC) lost to Holt/Lum (FC) 8-4
3. Ribeiro/ Leonardo Santos (VC) lost to Lam/DeBackre (FC) 8-5

Singles
1. Hironori Koyanagi (VC) def. Rihardk Feldmanis (FC) 6-1, 6-1
2. Corey Karen (VC) def. Brenden Lum (FC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Guenter Newman (VC) lost to Felipe Resende (FC) 6-4, 6-2
4. Michael Burr (VC) lost to Braden Holt (FC) 6-1, 6-0
5. Victor Ribeiro  (VC) def. David DeBackre (FC) 6-4, 0-6, 10-5
6. Leonardo Santos (VC) lost to Ryan Lam (FC) 7-5, 6-3

Ventura 8, Fresno 1 - Friday 3-13-15

Doubles
1. Koyanagi/Karen (VC) def. Kershaw/Audibest (FCC) 8-4
2. Ribeiro/ Santos (VC) def. Vang/Jizmejian (FCC) 8-3
3. Auteuil/Martin (VC) def. Bami/Postler (FCC) 8-3

Singles
1. Hironori Koyanagi (VC) def. Wyatt Kershaw (FCC) 6-0, 6-1
2. Corey Karen (VC) def. Robinson Audibest (FCC) 6-0, 6-1
3. Victor Ribeiro (VC) lost to Andy Vang (FCC) 6-3, 6-3
4. Leonardo Santos (VC) def. Avi Bami (FCC) 6-1, 6-2
5. Florent Auteuil  (VC) def. Jordan Jizmejian (FCC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Ricardo Martin (VC) def. Austin Postler (FCC) 6-1, 6-0

VC Season Record: 5-3 (3-0)