Ventura Continues Strong Play in WSC Tourney

VC freshman Santino Serralonga upset teammate and No. 2 seed Philemon Jabin and got past teammate Sam Ashbrook to advance to the WSC men's singles championship match. He will take on teammate and No. 4-seed Brodie Sodersten on Friday April 8 in the final.
VC freshman Santino Serralonga upset teammate and No. 2 seed Philemon Jabin and got past teammate Sam Ashbrook to advance to the WSC men's singles championship match. He will take on teammate and No. 4-seed Brodie Sodersten on Friday April 8 in the final.

The VC men's tennis team continued its extraordinarily strong performance in the Western State Conference Singles and Doubles Championships Saturday. Brodie Sodersten and Santino Serralonga advanced to the men's singles finals while VC also had three of four teams move into the doubles semifinals. The tournament is set to conclude Friday April 8 at the VC Tennis Center.

Unseeded Serralonga made his run to the finals through a pair of Pirate teammates. He defeated No. 2-seed Philemon Jabin in a marathon contest, 6-4, 6-7, 10-8, before defeating Sam Ashbrook 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Ashbrook qualified for the semifinals by besting teammate Ryan Lam 6-2, 6-2.

No. 4-seeded Sodersten won his quarterfinal against VC teammate Jinsei Tajima in three sets, 6-7, 6-3, 10-6, before defeating the draw's No. 1-seed from Glendale, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Ventura's Yuya Koide dropped his quarterfinal match to Glendale 6-3, 7-5.

Sodersten and Serralonga are slated to face off in the WSC Men's Singles Championship on Friday April 8 at 11:00 am.

Ventura also dominated doubles play on Saturday as the draw moved into the semifinals. 

No. 1-seed Ashbrook and Sodersten defeated an opponent from Glendale 8-1 to move into the semifinals. They will face No. 6 Jabin and Tajima who defeated the No. 4-seed from Santa Barbara 8-4.

VC's Regnar Madarang and Serralonga fell to the bracket's No. 2-seed from Glendale 8-4 while No. 3 Lam and Koide defeated the No. 5-seed from Bakersfield, 8-1, to move into the semi's.

Both men's semifinals match-ups are scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm Friday April 8 with the final following at 3:00 pm.

in the meantime, Ventura will host its first round SoCal Regional playoff match on Tuesday April 8 at 2:00 pm.