De Anza, Orange Coast head to Ventura with eyes on state title
By Dave Loveton
Santa Barbara City College Sports Information
VENTURA, Calif. - De Anza, the top seed in Northern California, will battle Orange Coast, the No. 2 seed from the South, for the CCCAA Dual Team Women’s Tennis Championship on Wednesday at Ventura College.
De Anza is 14-1 and returns to the state final for the second straight year after falling to Cerritos 5-3 in 2016. The Dons won the Coast Conference with a perfect 12-0 record. They knocked off No. 8 Chabot, No. 4 Modesto and No. 3 Canada 5-2 to win their fifth North Regional title.
The final will start at noon on Wednesday at Ventura College. The three doubles matches will play two sets to open the final with a 10-point tiebreaker if they’re tied. The six singles matches will follow in a best two-of-three sets.
Orange Coast is 18-2 with 11 straight wins. They reached the state final by edging No. 7 Bakersfield 5-4, then beating No. 3 Glendale 5-2 and No. 4 Santa Monica 5-2. The Pirates have won eight state dual-team championships with the last ones coming in 2005-06.
The Pirates are led by Clarissa Colling, Karen Trinh and Cecelia Arzaga. Colling is 14-1 with 12 straight wins. Trinh (14-2) won the Orange Empire singles title two weeks ago. Colling/Trihn are 13-2 in doubles.
“I’m so proud of our team,” said OCC coach Chris Ketchum after the South Regional final. “They really put in the work to make this happen. We’ve got some veteran sophomores and they’re very emotionally strong. That’s really important in big matches like this.”
De Anza won the state in 1998, becoming the first school from Northern California to achieve the feat. The South has won 34 of 37 women’s state titles since 1978.
Te Dons are led by No. 1 player Lina Nguyen, No. 2 Mimi Nguyen (9-2) and No. 3 Miriam Lopez, who’s undefeated in both singles (11-0) and doubles (12-0).