Saturday, May 13, 2006
GROSSMONT
COMES AWAY WITH WOMENS 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 Womens 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 others 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 Grossmonts
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 Coasts 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 ROSAS SUSAN SOUKSAVATH IN STRAIGHT
SETS
Claremont - Santa Rosa Colleges 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
Colleges Yui Shimizu in the California Community Colleges Commission
on Athletics Womens 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 didnt 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 didnt 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 Coasts 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
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