RIVERSIDE, CA - The Vaqueros traveled to Riverside in the Quarterfinals of the State Regional playoffs and lost 5-0.
The Vaqueros #2 doubles team of Connor Schloemer and Soren Whipps played a solid pro set against Lao and Chang.
"Soren was seeing the ball well on returns and getting good looks at second and third balls which he managed well off the ground. Connor's serve variety was keeping the Tigers on their heels throughout the first 8 games," head coach Danny Echt said. "Whipps has improved a great deal and it was great to see him in top form in the playoffs."
In the last four games, Riverside pulled away to win the pro set 8-5 as RCC's Chang was quite dominant with his pace and consistency.
After Riverside took all three doubles points, the Vaqueros had a solid start in singles in three of the five matches on court.
"The Vaqs played a much higher level of singles today which I think shows how much heart this team shows," Echt continued. "Despite being down from the doubles, the singles showing was solid."
#1 Mauritz Seitz played a very close first set and was beginning to find favorable patterns in the rallies. Unfortunately, however, Seitz played a few loose points early in the tiebreaker which ended 3-7.
Then, in the first game of the second set, the match was surrendered as Riverside earned their 4th and deciding 5th point in #2 and #6 singles against Matias Lapidus and Ada Guler.
#3 Vaqs Dominic Arnell had a fabulous battle going on with Raphael Delente as they had just split sets as the match was surrendered.
"Dom's commitment to his game plan was impressive today and his opponent made him work for nearly all of his points," Echt said proudly. "Dom stayed cool under pressure and was moving Delente laterally, finding short balls that gave him opportunities to pull the trigger and make some fine winners."
Delente served big and made an impressive comeback in the second set.
Vaqs #5 Connor Schloemer came back from being down 1-5 and took his opponent Matias Almeida to a first set tiebreaker, coming up just short 5-7 in the breaker.
The Vaqs played valiantly all season as they made sound progress in developing their games.
"I am very happy for this team who always fought hard and had fun together," Echt concluded. "Each player made measurable improvements, and collectively their camaraderie was a joy to witness."
The Ojai Individuals will be the next challenge for the Vaqs on April 25.
