VC’s Sagara Wins Singles; Glendale’s Shumakova and Gharabegi Win Doubles

Ventura College freshman Mariko Sagara won the 2016 Western State Conference Women's Tennis Singles Championship late last week. Conference champion Glendale College meanwhile was home to the WSC Doubles Champion in sophomores Viktoriya Shumakova and Meredy Gharebegi.

 Sagara, the #1 overall seed in the individual draw, got a bye in the opening round, before dropping just one game in the second, third, fourth, and fifth rounds. Sagara faced a battle in the semi-finals when she took on #7 seeded Tsukimi Ono of Glendale College. Sagara dropped the first set 4-6 before rallying with a 7-5 second set and 10-6 tiebreaker to advance to the finals. In the championship match, Sagara defeated Glendale's Shumakova 6-0 and 6-2, finishing the season 20-2.

In the doubles draw, Gharabegi was able to redeem last year's loss in the doubles championship game after she and Shumakova made it all the way to the top as the #4 seed. After a first round bye, the duo won 8-0 and 8-1 over the next two rounds, before overcoming #1 seed Sagara and teammate Jessica Powell in the semi-finals 8-6. In the championship match, Shumakova and Gharabegi defeated #3 seeded Maddie Seeds and Lesly Zapata De Lira of Santa Barbara City College 6-2 and 5-3 before the SBCC duo retired with a game to go.

2016 WSC Singles Championship Bracket