See Updated WSC Men's Singles Brackets
See Updated WSC Men's Doubles Brackets
Pirate freshman Bill Whitaker had a strong day Saturday at the Western State Conference Championships at the VC Tennis Center. He won two matches in singles play in the morning, advancing to the conference semifinals before teaming up with Cruz Thayne to win two more matches in doubles, moving to the WSC finals. He qualified for the CCCAA State Championships at The Ojai in both events, as did several of his VC teammates in play on Saturday.
Whitaker won his round of 16 singles contest 6-1, 6-3 over an opponent from Glendale before winning his quarterfinal match 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 in an upset of the draw's No. 2-seed, also from Glendale.
In doubles play, Whitaker and Thayne, the top seed in the tournament, defeated a Glendale duo 8-2 in the quarterfinals before prevailing in the semifinals 6-4, 7-6 (5) over a team from Santa Barbara.
In another doubles quarterfinal, Augustin Lestelle and Damon Mitchell triumphed 8-6 over a team from LA Pierce before bowing out in the semifinals to the No. 2 seeded team from Glendale. Rodrigo Perdigao and Hamilton Walker also fell in their doubles quarterfinal match.
All three VC doubles teams qualified for the state championships at The Ojai.
In singles other singles matches, Lestelle qualified for The Ojai with a love, love round of 16 win over an opponent from Bakersfield before falling in the quarterfinals to a player from Santa Barbara. Thayne also punched his ticket to Ojai with a round of 16 win over his Glendale opponent, 6-0, 6-2, before dropping his match to the top-seed in the draw from Glendale.
Perdigao lost his round of 16 match-up with an opponent from LA Pierce, but qualified for state with a 6-3, 6-4 backdraw win over an opponent from Glendale.
Finally, Sam Gazzera lost his round of 16 match to the top-seed in the tournament, then dropped his first backdraw match. He is still alive for the final berth in The Ojai, however, if he can win two matches when the tournament resumes.
Play Championships will return on Friday April 14, with the singles semifinals and finals, the doubles finals, and the final backdraw matches at the VC Tennis Center. Meanwhile, the VC men will most likely host their first round SoCal Regional playoff match on Tuesday April 11. The Ojai Tournament begins on Thursday April 27.