Saturday, May 13, 2006

GROSSMONT COMES AWAY WITH WOMEN’S DOUBLES TITLE

Claremont - In the Southern California Dual Team Championships, the Grossmont College doubles team of Yui Shimizu and Alyse Tyson lost their match against eventual team champion Orange Coast College and Jessica Rice and Emily Paulson. The two teams met up once again, but this time it was for the California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Women’s Tennis State Championship presented by U.S. Bank at The Claremont Club in Claremont, CA. After two hours of grueling play where both teams went back and forth, the team of Shimizu and Tyson prevailed, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

“It does feel good to end the season with a win, especially against such a good team that beat us last time,” said Tyson. “I knew Yui was really tired because she played in the singles championship match, so I wanted to try and avoid going to a third set.”

The Griffins opened up a 3-1 lead in the first set, but the Pirates worked their way back into a 3-3 tie before Grossmont broke their serve and then held serve for a 5-3 lead. Orange Coast then won the next game before a Shimizu overhand smash secured the first match.

“I have such a great partner in Alyse,” said Shimizu. “She makes me not afraid at any point in the match. We just felt like we needed to hold our serve and we would have a chance to win.”

Holding serve turned out to be the key in the second set after each team broke each other’s serve six straight games. The Pirates ended that string, as they held serve to take a 5-4 lead, but the Griffins came right back and won the next two games and regained a 6-5 advantage. Not ready to end their season just yet, Orange Coast broke Grossmont’s serve, even after the Griffins were serving championship point.

In the tiebreaker, the Pirates led by as much a 5-3 and they were tied six different times until a double fault accounted for the winning point.

Rice was looking to repeat as one half of the state doubles champion, as she teamed with Michelle Esquivel last season for the title. The doubles championship was the seventh in school history for the Griffins and second in the last three seasons.

Shimizu and Tyson defeated Orange Coast’s Jaleh Mazaheri and Julie Haley (6-1, 6-2) to reach the finals, while Rice and Paulson needed two and a half hours to dispose of Susan Souksavath and Laurie Souksavath of Santa Rosa, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

SEMI-FINALS

Yui Shimizu/Alyse Tyson (Grossmont) def. Jaleh Mazaheri/Julie Haley (Orange Coast), 6-1, 6-2

Jessica Rice/Emily Paulson (Orange Coast) def.Susan Souksavath/Laurie Souksavath (Santa Rosa) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

FINALS

Yui Shimizu/Alyse Tyson (Grossmont) def. Jessica Rice/Emily Paulson (Orange Coast), 6-4, 7-6 (7)

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SINGLES TITLE WON BY SANTA ROSA’S SUSAN SOUKSAVATH IN STRAIGHT SETS

Claremont - Santa Rosa College’s Susan Souksavath overcame a tedious semi-final match that lasted almost three hours and went on to record a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Grossmont College’s Yui Shimizu in the California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Women’s Tennis Singles Championship presented by U.S. Bank at The Claremont Club in Claremont, CA.

Souksavath opened the match by jumping out to a 4-0 lead and appeared to frustrate the hard-hitting Shimizu with her precision hitting.

“It was a classic match of “Fire and Ice” with one player relying on power and the other relying on hitting certain spots and waiting for their chance,” said Santa Rosa head coach Jay Samonte. “In their only other meeting in the semi-finals of the Ojai Tournament, Susan lost in three sets (6-1, 6-2, 5-7), but was leading 5-2 in the third set.”

Even after Shimizu fought her way back into the first match (4-3), Souksavath never let up and broke service before going on to post a 6-3 win in the first set.

Shimizu then made some adjustments to her play, as she started hit lobs while waiting for a chance to apply her trademark smash hits. But the hits didn’t fall and Souksavath gained more and more confidence as the match progressed, as she posted a 6-2 win in the second set for the victory.

“Getting out to the early lead in the first set was nice, but I continued to view it as a 1-0 match because I didn’t want to get caught looking ahead,” said Souksavath. “I had to keep my mind frame in the match and try and mix things up so she had to keep guessing what I was going to do next. My coach told me to be more aggressive, so when I saw the opportunity, I took it.”

Souksavath was able to defeat Orange Coast’s Jaleh Mazaheri (6-2, 7-6 (3) in the semi-finals, while Shimizu beat Emily Paulson of Orange Coast (6-1, 6-0) in the other semi-final match.

SEMI-FINALS

Susan Souksavath (Santa Rosa) def. Jaleh Mazaheri (Orange Coast), 6-2, 7-6 (3)

Yui Shimizu (Grossmont) def. Emily Paulson (Orange Coast), 6-1, 6-0

FINALS

Susan Souksavath (Santa Rosa) def. Yui Shimizu (Grossmont), 6-2, 6-2