CLAREMONT - The Orange Coast College women's tennis team won its second straight California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Team Championship presented by U.S. Bank on Thursday afternoon at the Claremont Club in Claremont, by defeating Santa Rosa, 5-3.
The Pirates, finished the season 21-0, split the six singles matches and then went out to win the first two doubles matches to earn their eighth team championship in school history.
The Bear Cubs, who were ranked #2 in the state, finish at 18-1.
"When the season started, I thought that we had a nice little team," said Orange Coast head coach Janice Maran. "Our goal was to win the conference and once we started in the team tournament, we never looked ahead and took it one at a time. But Santa Rosa is one competitive team. I give a lot of credit to their coach and their players because they worked hard for every shot and are great competitors."
Orange Coast took the first two completed singles matches, as Emily Pauslon (6-2, 6-2) and Jaleh Mazaheri (6-1, 6-1) recorded quick wins in the second and third spot.
After Santa Rosa's Susan Souksavath (6-3, 6-2) won in the #1 match and #4 Cristina Cancio (6-4, 6-2) also won, the match was tied.
Shauna Durbin gave OCC a 3-2 lead with her 6-1, 6-4 triumph in the #6 match and the key looked to be what was going to happen in the #4 match.
As Kathy Somnarong of Santa Rosa and Goldie Rivera of Orange Coast were battling into their third set and looked to eclipse the three-hour mark, the other two doubles matches got underway. Somnarong went on to prevail, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and 20 minutes, but by the time their match was concluded, the two doubles matches were well in hand by the Pirates.
After Mazaheri and Julie Haley posted their 6-2, 6-4 win, the top doubles team of Jessica Rice and Paulson finished the match off with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
"I had hoped we would have been ready for the doubles match, but the aggressive style of Orange Coast did us in," said Santa Rosa coach Jay Samonte. "They are very well coached and their doubles teams play very well because they like to pick on the net player and put them in the position to have to react. It was very effective on us."
Maran added, "This team has come through a lot this season. They are a very positive group and there were times when I didn't think they could accomplish certain things, but they remained focused and rallied around each other. I'm very proud of them."
SINGLES
Susan Souksavath (SRJC) def. Jessica Rice (OCC), 6-3, 6-2
Emily Paulson (OCC) def. Iris Kuzu (SRJC), 6-2, 6-2
Jaleh Mazaheri (OCC) def. Laurie Souksavath (SRJC), 6-1, 6-1
Cristina Cancio (SRJC) def. Julie Haley (OCC), 6-4, 6-2
Kathy Somnarong (SRJC) def. Goldie Rivera (OCC) 6-7, 6-4, 7-5
Shauna Durbin (OCC) def. Kimberly Pierce (SRJC), 6-1, 6-4
DOUBLES
Jessica Rice/Emily Paulson (OCC) def. Susan Souksavath/Laurie Souksavath (SRJC), 6-4, 6-3
Jaleh Mazaheri/Julie Haley (OCC) def. Iris Kuzu/Kimberly Pierce (SRJC), 6-2, 6-4