Jones, Holman Advance in Singles; Two Teams Advance in Doubles at SCC Championships

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College hosted the first day of the South Coast Conference Championships on Tuesday and will have plenty of representation heading into the final day of the competition.

Julia Jones and Danay Holman, ranked as the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds in the singles bracket, both advanced to the semifinal round on Tuesday. Both players had a first-round bye but would go on to cruise to a pair of wins to advance to the final day on Thursday.

Holman scored a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lydia Jong of Mount San Antonio in the round of 16 and then downed teammate and No. 4 seed Kekoa Vaefa in the quarterfinals. Holman won the first set 6-3 before Vaefa was forced to retire.

Jones swept Ocean Velasquez of Rio Hondo 6-0, 6-0 and then scored a default win of her own when Augustina Berrondo of College of the Desert had to retire after the first set of their quarterfinal match. Jones won the opening set 6-2 and advanced after Berrondo retired.

Kayla Brown, Madeline Evans and Stefanie Liebich also competed in the singles portion with Brown advancing the furthest, falling to No. 1 seed Shekina Daffon of College of the Desert in the quarterfinals.

On Thursday, Holman will face Barron in one semifinal while Jones will take on No. 3 seed Emunah Daffon of College of the Desert in the other semifinal.

In the doubles portion of day one, ECC and College of the Desert again reigned supreme and advanced to the semifinals.

The No. 1 seeded pair of Vaefa and Jones cruised into the semifinals with an 8-0 win in the quarterfinals against Velasquez and Nadia Santoyo of Rio Hondo. The No. 4 seeded pair of Holman and Brown also advanced as they defeated Daisy Haro and Nicole Lule of Rio Hondo in the quarters. Both ECC teams will face each other in the semifinals on Thursday while the other semifinal is an all-COD affair with E. Daffon and Berondo facing S. Daffon and Antonella Mazotti.

Play for the final day of the SCC Championships is set to begin on Thursday at noon with the singles semifinals getting the day underway.