In a battle of unbeaten men's tennis teams, Ventura College took down American River 6-3 in day one of the North/South Challenge. Corey Karen and Hironori Koyanagi were winners on the singles and doubles sides of play.
Ventura (11-0, 7-0) faced their toughest test to date on the season taking on the No. 1 team in the state and undefeated American River. VC got out to a solid start by winning two of the three doubles contests. The Pirates were winners at No. 1 doubles behind Karen and Koyanagi. Then they picked up a win at No. 3 doubles behind Leonardo Santos and Victor Ribeiro.
On the singles side of play Ventura won four of the six contests. They won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles with Karen and Koyanagi. Newman was a winner at No. 3 singles for the Pirates, but they dropped the No. 4 and No. 5 singles contests, but rebounded to win at No. 6 singles behind Burr.
Ventura is set to take on Foothill College on Saturday Mar. 19 at 12:00 pm.
Ventura 6 American River 3
Doubles:
1. Corey Karen/Hironori Koyanagi (VC) defeats (ARC); 8-4
2. Guenter Newman/Michael Burr (VC) lost to (ARC); 8-5
3. Leonardo Santos/Victor Ribeiro (VC) defeats (ARC); 8-4
Singles:
1. Karen (VC) defeats (ARC); 1-6, 7-5, 10-6
2. Koyanagi (VC) defeats (ARC); 6-1, 6-2
3. Newman (VC) defeats (ARC); 7-5, 6-2
4. Evan Gazic (VC) lost to (ARC); 6-0, 6-3
5. Diego Rodrigues (VC) lost to (ARC); 6-4, 7-6
6. Burr (VC) defeats (ARC); 6-2, 6-2
Ventura 11-0 overall 7-0 conference