Both the men’s and women’s Riverside City College tennis teams are preparing for the SoCal Dual Team Regionals and the 3C2A State Championship after a strong showing at the Orange Empire Conference Tournament on April 2–3.
For the women’s team, sisters Angelina Capraro and Julianna Capraro automatically qualified for the 3C2A State Championship due to being the No. 1 seed. The sisters were also recently named Orange Empire Conference Doubles Team of the Year.
“Their sibling chemistry is a major edge. They have been playing together since they were in diapers,” head coach Nikki Bonzoumet said. “They had a great season and are really starting to play well heading into the postseason.”
The doubles team of Victoria Herrera and Brianna Nikas also qualified for state, winning their qualifying match 8-3. Fleurdeliz Libutan and Natalia Gomez won their match 8-2, qualifying as well.
In singles, Nikas automatically qualified for state. Both Capraro sisters also won their qualifying matches. Libutan and Herrera also qualified, with Herrera winning her match 6-0, 6-0.
“The girls played some great tennis to get to this point. They are just excited and are celebrating that success,” Bonzoumet said.
On the men’s side of the court, sophomores Ethan Lee and Matias Almeida both won their qualifying matches dominantly, with Lee winning his singles match 6-0, 6-3 and Almeida winning 6-0, 6-1.
“It always feels good to win like that, and it definitely gives me confidence for the matches coming up with the team,” Almeida said.
Sophomores Ronith Sreeram, Giovanne Recchia, Charalampos Plataniotis and freshman Vinicius Magrin have already qualified due to their seedings. All three doubles teams have also qualified for the 3C2A State Championship.
“Matias and Ethan only had to win one match to get into the State Individual Tournament in Ojai,” said head coach Otis Vu. “That showed me they can be match-tough heading into the postseason for team play.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete at the SoCal Dual Team Championship, taking place April 7–22, and the 3C2A State Championship, which is April 23–26.
“The team is feeling relaxed coming in. There is a confidence in knowing you have put in the work to be in form at this point in the season,” Vu said. “Right now, feeling well-rested & refreshed after a grueling regular season that went 15-3. The work has been done. Now it’s time for the playoffs.
