COD Men’s Tennis snags rare “Triple Crown” at CCCAA State Championship

COD is back! After winning their first CCCAA State Title since 2011 on Wednesday, the Roadrunners turned their sights on securing a rare "Triple Crown," by winning the Singles and Doubles titles, as a pair of Desert players faced each other for the Singles title, then teamed up to win the Doubles title.

Getting to the grand finale was a tough road of intense tennis as the doubles team of sophomore Kalman Boyd (Solana Beach Fusian Academy) and freshman Alex Kuperstein (Palm Desert H.S.) faced each other in the CCCAA Singles Title. Having a one hour rest, Boyd and Kuperstein then teamed up to win the doubles title over a Foothill Owls doubles team they had defeated earlier in the week for the team State Title.

Boyd, the Desert #1 player and the top seed from the South, had faced off against his doubles partner, #2 seeded Kuperstein earlier this season. On April 13th in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference (PCAC) title match, Kuperstein outlasted Boyd 6-2, 2-6, 10-6 for the PCAC Singles Title.

Every Roadrunners player qualified for the CCCAA State Championships at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club as a singles player and as a doubles team.  

In doubles play, each of the three teams were granted a first round bye, automatically qualifying them for the Round of 64.

The team of freshman Sebastian Gomez Romero (Palm Desert H.S.) and freshman Manfred Vogt (Mexico City (MX) Universidad Panamerican Preparatoria) came into their match ranked #7 and opened up in the Round of 64. They dropped the first set of their first match, 6-3, then rebounded to win the second set 7-5, but fell in the extra set 10-5 to their opponents from the Santa Barbara City Vaqueros.

The team of freshman Syed Hosain (Abu Dhabi (UAE) GEMS American Academy) and freshman Saar Rogovski (Rosh HaAyin (ISR) Menachem Begin) came into their match ranked #12 and opened up in the Round of 64. Hosain and Rogovski rolled through their first round match over the Cabrillo Seahawks, 6-1 and 6-0 and had a slightly harder time with their opponents from the El Camino Warriors, winning the first set, 6-2 and squeaking by the second set, 6-4. In the Round of 16, Hosain and Rogovski ran into a pair from the Cerritos Falcons, which were ranked as the #4 seeded doubles team in the tournament, where the Roadrunners fell in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-1.

The team of sophomore Kalman Boyd (Solana Beach Fusian Academy) and freshman Alex Kuperstein (Palm Desert H.S.) came into their match ranked #12 and also opened up in the Round of 64. Boyd and Kuperstein barely broke a sweat as they mauled their way through each round, opening up their first round match by defeating the team from the Diablo Valley Vikings, 6-0 and 6-1 and then dispatching the team from the Orange Coast Pirates, 6-0 and 6-1.

In the Round of 16, Boyd and Kuperstein punished the #5 ranked doubles team which hailed from the Foothill Owls, a team they had defeated a few days earlier for the CCCAA team state title. Then setting their eyes upon the quarterfinals, where they defeated the #9 ranked team, knocking off the team from the Irvine Valley, 6-1 and 6-2. On to the semifinals, where Boyd and Kuperstein defeated the #2 team in the tournament, a doubles team from the American River Beavers, 6-2 and 6-1. Then in the finals, Boyd and Kuperstein ran into the top team from the other side of the bracket, another team from the Foothill Owls, defeating them, 6-0 and 6-2.

In singles play, Boyd was awarded the #1 seed and Kuperstein the #2 seed, while Vogt was awarded the #8 seed and Rogovski was unranked, but joined his previously mentioned teammates with a first round bye, automatically qualifying for the Round of 64. Hosain and Gomez Romero had to play out of the Round of 128.

Hosain would easily dispatch his opponent from the Fresno City Rams, 6-0 and 6-1 and Gomez Romero pushed past his opponent from the L.A. Pierce Brahmas, 6-2 and 6-1.

All the Roadrunners were in the Round of 64, but that's where the competition would end for half of the team, as Hosain, Rogovski and Gomez Romero all lost their matches. Hosain fell to his opponent from the Irvine Valley Lasers, 6-0 and 6-3 and Gomez Romero fell to his opponent from American River, 6-1 and 6-2. Rogovski fought hard, dropping the first set, 6-3, then turning around and crushing it, 6-1, but falling in the extra set, 6-3.

Vogt won his Round of 64 match against a player from the Chabot Gladiators, 6-2 and 6-1, then knocked off a foe from the PCAC, defeating a player from the Grossmont Griffins, 6-1 and 6-3. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the line for Vogt as he had to retire from this Round of 16 match against the Falcons, due to injury.

SINGLES:

HOSAIN:
64 (6) Leszek Mirecki (Irvine Valley) d. Ameer Hosain 6-0; 6-3
128 Ameer Hosain d. Mike Simmons (Fresno City) 6-0; 6-1

VOGT:
16 (3) Arthur Toledo (Cerritos) d. (8) Manfred Vogt - INJURY
32 (8) Manfred Vogt d. Diego Messieri (Grossmont) 6-1; 6-3
64 (8) Manfred Vogt d. Sam Smith (Chabot) 6-2; 6-1
128 BYE

KUPERSTEIN:
F (1) Kalman Boyd (College of the Desert) d. (2) Alex Kuperstein 6-4; 6-4
SF (2) Alex Kuperstein d. (3) Arthur Toledo (Cerritos) 6-4; 6-0
Q (2) Alex Kuperstein d. (15) Jan Simon (Cerritos) 6-4; 6-0
16 (2) Alex Kuperstein d. (12) Parker McBride (Irvine Valley) 6-4; 6-1
32 (2) Alex Kuperstein d. Charles de La Laurencie (Ventura) 6-1; 6-2
64 (2) Alex Kuperstein d. Tomas Bella (Cerritos) 6-0; 6-0
128 BYE

ROGOVSKI:
64 (11) Jay Pandit (Chabot) d. Saar Rogovski 6-3; 1-6; 6-3
128 BYE

GOMEZ ROMERO:
64 (3) Stephen Guenard (American River) d. Sebastian Gomez Romero 6-1; 6-2
128 Sebastian Gomez Romero d. Christian Ponce (L.A. Pierce) 6-2; 6-1

BOYD:
F (1) Kalman Boyd d. (2) Alex Kuperstein (College of the Desert) 6-4; 6-4
SF (1) Kalman Boyd d. (11) Lirone Abecassis (Grossmont) 6-0; 6-3
Q (1) Kalman Boyd d. (9) Julian Lafond (Irvine Valley) 6-0; 5-2
16 (1) Kalman Boyd d. (6) Evan Gazikian (Foothill) 6-1; 6-1
32 (1) Kalman Boyd d. Andres Decock (Santa Barbara City) 6-0; 6-4
64 (1) Kalman Boyd d. Pablo Gentile (Grossmont) 6-0; 6-0
128 BYE

DOUBLES:

Gomez Romero / Vogt:
64 Andres Decock / Dominic Signorello (Santa Barbara City) d. (7) Gomez / Vogt 6-3; 5-7; 10-5
128 BYE

Hosain / Rogovski:
16 (4) Bruno Duarte/ Arthur Toledo (Cerritos) d. (12) Hosain / Rogovski 6-2; 6-1
32 (12) Hosain / Rogovski d. Connor Davis / Trey Vasquez (El Camino) 6-2; 6-4
64 (12) Hosain / Rogovski d. David Burge / Jonathan Danielson (Cabrillo) 6-1; 6-0
128 BYE

Boyd / Kuperstein:
F (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. (1) Nichola Khamphilath / Ryo Kojima (Foothill) 6-0; 6-2
SF (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. (2) Stephen Guenard / Sam Hall (American River) 6-2; 6-1
Q (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. (9) Derek Lin / Parker McBride (Irvine Valley) 6-1; 6-2
16 (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. (5) Yu Tokuyama / Levi Vigdorchik (Foothill) 6-1; 6-1
32 (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. Ryan Mulrooney / August Von Heimburg (Orange Coast) 6-0; 6-1
64 (1) Boyd / Kuperstein d. Michael Rosti / Kamalpreet Surajbansi (Diablo Valley) 6-0; 6-1
128 BYE

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Information & Story provided by COD Sports Information. Photo by Mike Baker & the CCCAA.