IRVINE, Calif. – Santa Barbara City College traveled to No. 4 Irvine Valley College for the first round of the 3C2A Playoffs on Tuesday, falling to the Lasers 5-0.
The doubles round featured competitive play across the board. The Vaqueros got a boost at Line 3 with the return of Ludi Chan, who had been sidelined with illness. Chan teamed up with Rodrigo Garcia to break serve early, but the Laser duo responded and pulled away to win the pro set 8-3. Irvine Valley went on to sweep all three doubles matches.
In singles play, SBCC was forced to default one line due to injuries and illness, which meant the first singles win for Irvine would clinch the match.
Freshman Loris Alem pushed his opponent, Ashraf, to a first-set tiebreaker—the first Ashraf had faced all season—but fell just short after a code violation cost him set point. Moments later, the match was called following a 6-2, 6-0 win for the Lasers at No. 4 singles over Ada Guler.
Despite the early exit, the Vaqueros capped a strong season with a solid effort against one of the state's top programs. Several team members will now turn their focus to the Individual State Championships, April 24–27 in Ojai.
