MEN'S TENNIS FINISHES STRONG IN POST-SEASON
Three singles players and three doubles teams competed in the 2018 State Championships.
Grossmont College's men's tennis finished strong this spring in post-season. The team captured four All-Conference selections, competed in team regional playoffs and qualified three singles players and three doubles teams into the state championships.
GC men's tennis finished 9-3 in conference, and 15-9 overall posting three singles players and one doubles team to the PCAC All-Conference list.
Singles All-Conference players include Lirone Abecassis, Tomas Bernardes and Kaio Massao Sato. Doubles All-Conference players include Lirone Abecassis alongside Tomas Bernardes.
PCAC All-Conference selections for men's tennis is comprised of the eight singles quarter-finalists and the eight doubles semi-finalists in the conference tournament. The conference tournament was held at Grossmont College April 12-14, 2018.
Singles players, Abecassis, Bernardes and Massao Sato each finished the conference tournament in the top 8 quarter-finals, while doubles team Abecassis and Bernardes finished in the top 4 semi-finals.
Left to right: Tomas Bernardes, Lirone Abecassis, Pablo Gentile and Kaio Massao Sato.
After the PCAC conference tournament and All-Conference selections, GC men's tennis traveled to Riverside College to compete versus the Tigers in the 1st round of team regional playoffs. Unfortunately, the griffin men drove home that day with the loss completing their season as a team 15-9 overall.
Following regional playoffs, on April 28-29, men's and women's tennis singles and doubles state championships took place in Ojai, California.
State championship qualifiers from GC included the three singles All-Conference players, Lirone Abecassis, Tomas Bernardes and Kaio Massao Sato, and three doubles teams including Brandon Sullivan/Adam Ellestad, Kaio Massao Sato/Pablo Gentile and All-Conference doubles team Lirone Abecassis/Tomas Bernardes.
On the singles side, Lirone Abecassis competed into the round of 16, Tomas Bernardes competed into the round of 16, and Kaio Massao Sato lost in the round of 64. When the final state rankings are posted, Abecassis is likely be ranked in the top 16 in the state. Likewise, Bernardes is likely to be ranked in the top 20 and Massao Sato in the top 50 of the final state rankings.
State championships for doubles found Lirone Abecassis and Tomas Bernardes with a loss in the quarter-finals, Kaio Massao Sato and Pablo Gentile with a loss in round of 32, and Brandon Sullivan and Adam Ellestad with a loss in the round of 64.
Abecassis and Bernardes have a chance at a top 10 finish in final state rankings, while Massao Sato and Gentile have a chance at a top 25 finish in the final state rankings.
Congratulations and well done to the G-House men's tennis team for a very competitive and successful spring season, led by veteran head coach Scott Strange.
