Irvine Valley's Baize and Rumeau take state doubles crown

What a week for the Irvine Valley men's tennis team.

A few days after winning the program's first ever State Championship, Irvine Valley men's tennis players stood out in the state's individual competition at the 115th Ojai Tournament.

The Lasers made up three of the eight quarterfinalists in singles and three of the four teams in doubles in the semifinals of the CCCAA State Championships individual tournaments.

IVC also captured the trophy for most wins at the Ojai Tournament by a community college men's team for the second consecutive year.

Sophomore Guillermo Ucelay and freshman Flavien Raveau each made it to the semifinals in singles and then the Laser doubles teams of Ucelay and sophomore Simon Guillin and sophomores Max Rumeau and Valentin Baize played each other in the state final with Rumeau and Baize winning the title, 6-4, 6-1.

Baize and Rumeau, the No. 8 seed and the No. 2 Laser duo, beat the top two seeds to win the title. Baize and Rumeau upset top-seeded Hironori Koyanagi and Corey Karen in the morning semifinal 6-3, 4-6, (10-7), then beat their second-seeded teammates Guillin and Ucelay for the title.

Baize and Rumeau also had to win a tough three-set match, 6-4, 4-6, (10-4) win the quarterfinals of the tournament over San Diego Mesa's team of Corentin Haener and Kimo Barrere.

Ucelay and Guillin got to the final with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Irvine Valley freshmen teammates Scott Paz and Carson Williams.

It was the first state doubles crown for the Lasers, who also won their first state team title earlier in the week.

In singles, Ucelay, Raveau, Guillin and freshmen Bruno Figlia and Scott Paz each made it to the round of 16 in the state singles event.

IVC, which also won its second straight Orange Empire Conference title this season, finished the year with a dual team record of 18-1.