Top-seed Corey Karen and No. 3-seed Hironori Koyanagi set up a rematch of the 2015 Western State Conference finals by winning two matches each Saturday on day two of the 2016 WSC Championships at the VC Tennis Center. The two sophomores also advanced together to the doubles semifinals along with the team of Guenter Newman and Michael Burr.
Karen won his singles quarterfinal 6-0, 6-2 before winning the semifinal in a super tiebreaker, 6-3, 2-6 (10-6). Koyanagi, meanwhile, advanced through the round of eight love and love before winning his semifinal 6-2, 7-5. The two met a year ago for the WSC title with Koyanagi prevailing on his way to an undefeated season and the 2015 state championship.
In the singles back draw, Michael Burr advanced to the state championships at The Ojai Tournament with a 7-5, 3-1, ret. win over teammate Diego Rodrigues. Leonardo Santos moved on to state with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the back draw, as did Evan Gazic who advanced 6-0, 6-3.
In doubles, Koyanagi and Karen, the defending conference champions, moved into the semifinals with an 8-1 victory. Newman and Burr moved into the opposite semifinal with a 8-2 win. Meanwhile the doubles teams of Gazic and Rodrigues, and Victor Ribeiro and Santos each lost in the round of eight, 8-1 and 9-7 respectively. VC will place the maximum of three doubles teams into the state championships at The Ojai April 21-14.
The WSC Championships conclude on Friday April 8 at the VC Tennis Center.
See Updated 2016 WSC Tennis Championships Men's Singles Bracket
See Updated 2016 WSC Tennis Championships Men's Doubles Bracket