Spencer Ekola swept three matches on Thursday on the first day of the CCCAA State Men's Tennis Championships at the Ojai Tournament.
Ekola beat Louis Tanada of El Camino 6-0, 6-2 at Hueneme High in Oxnard, then upset the No. 9 seed from the North, Julio Ochoa of Foothill 6-2, 7-6 (0). He'll take on the No. 9 seed from the South, Javi Callejo of state team champion Irvine Valley, on Friday in a Round of 32 match at 8 a.m. at the Channel Islands Racquet Club.
Callejo, the No. 3 player for the Lasers, is the defending state champion. Ekola improved to 18-6 on the year.
Emerson Sekban had a first-round bye for the Vaqueros, then fell to No. 15 Jeff Gelman of Saddleback 6-0, 6-3. Diego Santos dropped his first-round battle to Carlos Mendez-Calzada of Cerritos 6-1, 6-2.
In doubles, Ekola and Sekban were seeded 15th. They had a first-round bye and then whipped Robeir Verhofstadt/Jose Zaragosa of Imperial Valley 6-1, 6-0.
Ekola/Sekban will face the top-seed from the North, Cody Duong/Tam Duong of American River, on Friday in a Round of 32 match at 12:30 p.m. at the Channel Islands RC.
Santos and Stevie Acuna knocked off Roberto Torres/Gabriel Tovar of Reedley 6-2, 6-0. In the second round, they dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to No. 3 Max Blancaneaux/Vincent Reynaud of Cypress.
