Pirate tennis singles players Philemon Jabin and Brodie Sodersten both qualified for the CCCAA State Championships with victories Friday at the SoCal Regionals at Fullerton College. Additionally, Jabin and Jinsei Tajima along with Yuya Koide and Ryan Lam qualified for state in doubles play. The state finals will be held May 5-6 at Mt. San Antonio College.
In singles play, Jabin, the Pirates' No. 1 all season, defeated an opponent from San Diego City 6-1, 6-3 before defeating a foe from Irvine Valley 6-2, 6-3 to become one of SoCal's eight state qualifiers.
Sodersten won his first match Friday 6-2, 6-1 against Irvine Valley before taking a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over an opponent from College of the Desert.
Santino Serralonga barely missed his chance at state. He won his first match against Saddleback 6-2, 6-1 before dropping a razor-close 7-6 (9-7), 1-6, 6-2 setback against the No. 4 seed from Irvine Valley.
Koide won a three-set thriller over an opponent from Desert in his opener, winning the third-set tiebreaker 11-9. He then fell to the No. 1 seed in the draw from Irvine Valley in a state qualifying match.
Meanwhile, Sam Ashbrook defeated his first opponent from Irvine Valley 6-2, 6-1 before bowing out to the No. 3 seed from Desert in a difficult 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat.
Tajima dropped his first singles match Friday against an opponent from Riverside in three sets.
In doubles play, Jabin and Tajima defeated an opponent from Desert 6-1, 6-2 to advance to state while Koide and Lam won 5-7, 6-3, 10-5 over a team from Irvine Valley.
Sodersten and Ashbrook, the No. 3-seed in the draw, were upset Friday afternoon by a duo from El Camino, 7-5, 7-5, after both Pirates had played two singles matches each in the morning session.
The Pirates will conclude their season on Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6, at the CCCAA State Singles and Doubles Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.