Glendale Community College women’s tennis can’t overcome doubles deficit in finals loss to Mt. SAC

WALNUT — It was the sort of deficit the Glendale Community College women’s tennis team had hoped to avoid at all costs.

A squad that had struggled in doubles play throughout the postseason was swept in doubles action at Saturday afternoon’s California Community College Athletic Assn. Dual Team Tennis Southern California Regional Finals in Walnut.

The price for a three-point deficit was an exit from the playoffs a step short of reaching the state finals, as No. 2-seeded Glendale couldn’t battle its way back in a 5-2 loss at top-seeded Mount San Antonio College.

The victory vaults the Mounties (23-1) into the state championship Wednesday against Modesto, the NoCal No. 3 seed.

On the other hand, Glendale closed out a historic season that included a 17-3 record, a first-ever Western State Conference title and an inaugural visit to the SoCal Finals.

“It really turned for us in doubles,” Glendale second-year Coach Deo Sy said. “If we win a point, we’re only down, 2-1, after doubles and then we win the first two singles sets and we’re ahead, 3-2, instead of chasing. It’s a whole different match if we could only get one doubles win.”

The Vaqueros dropped two of three doubles sets in each of their previous postseason victories versus Irvine Valley and Cerritos en route to Mt. SAC.

On Saturday, there was a brief moment in which all three Vaqueros doubles teams held leads.

Yet, that advantage quickly faded as the Mounties’ No. 2 squad of Connie Aranguiz and Kristen Canones picked up an 8-3 win over Glendale’s Elizabeth Sanchez and Amy Shigenaga.

That was followed by an 8-6 win by Mt. SAC’s No. 3 duo of Tran Bui and Ysabella Matute, who rallied from a 4-3 deficit versus Ayaka Takeuchi and Meghedi Mooradian.

Despite the losses, the Vaqueros seemed to have a win in their back pocket as their No. 1 duo of Brigitta Benitez and Meredy Gharabegi overcame a 3-2 hole in taking a 6-3 advantage versus Mt. SAC’s Pyper Brown and Judy Ung.

Yet, Brown and Ung rallied to pull even at 7 before eking out a 9-7 win that even had Mounties Coach Sophie Salvador thinking twice.

“When they fell behind, 6-3, I thought it was over,” said Salvador, who like Sy had her team in its first-ever SoCal Final. “Pyper and Judy had some difficulties recently and when we first faced Glendale, Pyper was paired with Connie.

“I thought I had made a mistake, but then they battled back. If we don’t win that third doubles set, I’m not sure we win this match.”

Glendale, which lost its first match of the season to Mt. SAC by a 5-3 margin, shook off the setbacks with consecutive victories in singles play. Takeuchi nearly pulled off a complete sweep at No. 6 singles before besting Matute, 6-0, 6-2.

“I really had to win because I was in the No. 6 spot, the bottom,” Takeuchi said. “My forehand was working and I’m happy to win.”

Gharabegi overcame whatever negative vibes she may have had from the doubles defeat to win, 6-4, 6-4 in No. 5 singles versus Bui.

“Even though we lost all the doubles and went down, 3-0, we still had to come out with a clear board,” Gharabegi said. “We couldn’t let that affect us in singles.”

Gharabegi’s victory brought the Vaqueros within 3-2 with four matches remaining.

Unfortunately for Glendale, that’s as close as the Vaqueros came.

Mt. SAC secured its ticket to the state finals with back-to-back wins, the first coming from Ung at No. 4 singles versus Sanchez, 6-3, 6-2. The clinching win came at No. 2 singles from Brown, who outlasted Mooradian, 6-3, 6-2.

The wins made the match’s final two sets moot as Benitez held a lead of 6-3, 5-4 over Aranguiz and Canones held a 6-3, 2-6, 2-1 advantage at No. 3 singles versus Shigenaga.

“It’s always tough to lose, but I’m really proud of the team,” Sy said. “Nobody really expected this. It was a great run and we still have Ojai left.”

While the team season is over, Glendale has individuals who will participate in the season-ending Ojai Tournament, beginning Thursday at 8 a.m.