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Sports

SMC Players Win Individual Titles at State Finals

Mozoluk won singles, Rodriguez and Hansard won doubles.

In horse racing, the Triple Crown consists of winning the Kentucky, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes all in the same year. In baseball, the Triple Crown is leading the league in home runs, runs batted in and batting average. 

Over the course of three days, the women's tennis team achieved a Triple Crown of its own by sweeping the dual team, singles and doubles championships at the Sierra Sport & Racquet Club in Fresno.

On Thursday, the Corsairs easily claimed the team title with a 5-1 victory over Sierra College. Over the next two days, Katerina Mozolyuk won the Individual singles title and Criss Rodriguez and Krystal Hansard captured the Individual doubles title, meaning SMC took home all the hardware at this year's event.

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Mozolyuk began the tournament as the top-ranked community college player in California, but she was seeded only No. 3 in SoCal after retiring in the semifinals of the Southern California Regionals. She had played a ton of matches leading up to the state Individuals and the question was whether fatigue would be a factor in the late rounds.

However, Mozolyuk proved fresh enough to knock off SoCal No. 1 seed Sharon Reibstein of Grossmont, 6-1, 6-4, in the semifinals before meeting SoCal No. 2 seed Jazmin Ortiz in the finals. After breezing through the first set, Mozolyuk had match points at 5-3 and 5-4 in the second set before losing 7-2 in a tiebreaker 7-2 before taking the decisive third set 6-3 to complete a perfect 30-0 season.

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"I told her 'This is the last match of the season, this is the set that counts if you win,” SMC Coach Richard Goldenson said, referring to the advice he offered his top player before the third set. "The key was she started to own her backhand."  

Later on Saturday, SMC teammates Criss Rodriguez and Krystal Hansard were looking for a measure of revenge in the doubles final, having lost to Grossmont's Ortiz and Reibstein at the Southern California Regionals. This time, the Corsairs duo turned the tables with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

 The No. 2-seeded team from Southern California, Rodriguez and Hansard wasted no time taking command. Their final round domination was the finishing touch to a dominant tournament in which they dropped just seven games the entire tournament and ended the season with a stellar 26-2 record.

"I thought from the first day of the season we had a lock on a state championship," Goldenson said. "This sweep indeed is a surprise and it’s fabulous." 

For Goldenson and his players, the trifecta in Fresno is not only the greatest achievement in program history, it may be unprecedented in the history of the women's state tournament. It is believed to be the first time a single school has swept the team, singles and doubles titles in the same season.

INDIVIDUAL SINGLES  

Semifinals 

Jazmine Ortiz, GC, d. Kelsey Chrisco, SC, 6-1, 6-1

Katerina Mozolyuk, SMC, d. Sharon Reibstein, GC, 6-1, 6-4

Championship

Mozolyuk, SMC, d. Ortiz, GC, 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3  

INDIVIDUAL DOUBLES 

Semifinals 

Criss Rodriguez-Krystal Hansard, SMC, d. Betsy Sauer-Nicci Yvanovich, SBCC, 6-0, 6-1.

Jazmine Ortiz-Sharon Reibstein, GC, d. Tina Vuong-Natalie Loria, IVC, 6-3, 6-4.

Championship

Rodriguez-Hansard, SMC, d. Ortiz-Reibstein, GC, 6-2, 6-1.

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