The Irvine Valley men's tennis team learned some exciting news this past week. The team finished the 2011 season ranked No. 16 in the final state rankings. The rankings were posted at itatennis.com. College of the Desert was first and Fresno City finished second. The highest Orange Empire Conference team was Cypress at third. Irvine Valley finished the season with a record of 4-10 overall and was fifth in the conference standings. But the Lasers had several impressive individual performances this season, including those turned in by singles player
Justin Thompson and the doubles team of freshmen
Michael Sharp and
Tyler Truong. Thompson, who was a freshman, reached the state tournament in singles. Thompson ended the year ranked No. 16 in singles in the final state rankings put out by the ITA. He was also a first team all-Orange Empire Conference player for the Lasers. Sharp and Truong, who reached the Southern California Regionals, finished the season ranked No. 27 in the state in doubles. Another IVC doubles team, Thompson and sophomore
Chris Naamani ended the year ranked No. 33 in the state in doubles.
State Rankings
5/14/2011 Players honored at men's tennis banquet
The Irvine Valley men's tennis team recently held its end of the year banquet and several awards were handed out. The most valuable player award went to freshman Justin Thompson, who was named first team all-Orange Empire Conference and reached the state tournament in singles this season. The most improved award went to sophomore Michael Zampiglia and freshman Michael Sharp. And second-year player awards went to Zampiglia, Ryan Sleiman and Chris Naamani.
5/13/2011 Thompson falls in first round atstate championships
Justin Thompson's special freshman men's tennis season at Irvine Valley ended in the first round of the CCCAA State Championships in Fresno on Friday. Thompson, who was the seventh seed, lost his singles opener to third-seeded John Karlman of Fresno. Thompson won the first set, 6-3, but then dropped the next two, 6-2, 6-2. "It was a hard-fought match," IVC co-head coach John Goss said. "Justin will still be ranked as one of the top-16 players in the state." Thompson was also an all-Orange Empire Conference player for the Lasers this season. State Tournament Draw
5/7/2011 Justin Thompson qualifies for the state championships
Irvine Valley freshman men's tennis player Justin Thompson kept his magical season going by winning two singles matches at the Southern California Regionals this week at College of the Desert to qualify for the CCCAA State Championships tournament next week in Fresno. Thompson received the No. 12 seed and got a bye in the first round.He then defeated the top-player from Mt. SAC, Benson Kim and won, 6-2, 6-1. Thompson beat Jonathon Florez of College of the Desert, 6-3, 6-1, to qualify for state. After qualifying, Thompson lost to the top player from COD and the No. 3-seed in the tournament, 6-1, 6-1. "Through hard work, dedication and a competitive spirit, Justin has emerged as one of the top-16 singles players in the state," IVC co-head coach John Goss said. "Given his grinding baseline style, it's safe to assum that no one really wants to play him at the state tournament next week." IVC also had freshmen Michael Sharp and Tyler Troung in the doubles draw at the regioinals. Sharp and Truong won their first match, 6-0, 6-1, against a team from Mt. SAC. In the second round, the IVC duo got beat by the No. 2 seed from Cerritos, 6-1, 6-0.
5/3/2011 Thompson ready for So. Cal. Regionals tournament
Freshman Justin Thompson will be the lone singles representative for the Irvine Valley men's tennis team at the Southern California Regionals at College of the Desert this week. Thompson qualifiedin the singles competition by reaching the semifinals of the Orange Empire Conference Finals tournament last month at Saddleback College. Thompson just came off a solid showing at the Ojai Valley Tournament. "We are hoping to have him seeded with his great Ojai win (beating the No. 4 seed) so he as an excellent chance of qualifying for state playoffs in Fresno the following week," IVC co-head coach John Goss said. Irvine Valley also qualified one doubles team -Tyler Truong and Michael Sharp - for regionals. "Tyler and Michael will definitely have an excellent chance of going deep in the tournament and possibly qualifying for state if they continue their momentum from the latter half of the season," Goss said. Play at regionals gets underway on Thursday and goes through Saturday. Regionals Fact Sheet
5/1/2011 Men's tennis team plays well at Ojai Valley Tournament
Players on the Irvine Valley men's tennis team won a total of five matches at last week's OjaiValley Tournament. Freshmen Michael Sharp and Justin Thompson each won two singles matches and freshman Tyler Troung won one singles contest. Thompson, Irvine Valley's No. 1 singles player,actually beat thefourth-seeded playerin the tournament, Andre Almeida of Reedley College. Almeida is considered one of the top players in the state. Thompson saved two match points in the third set and won 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (2). Unfortunately, Thompson had to retire in the third round of the tourney due to injury. Irvine Valley's doubles team of sophomores Michael Zampiglia and Ryan Sleiman lost a tough match against the top-seeded team from Cerritos in the second round. The doubles team of Truong and Sharp lost in a super tiebreaker in the second round to a top team from San Diego Mesa. "It was a great week in Ojai," IVC co-head coach John Goss said. "They guys had a great tournament."
4/15/2011 Thompson shines at conference finals, makes regionals
Freshman men's tennis player Justin Thompson led the way for the Irvine Valley men's tennis team at the Orange Empire Conference men's individual tournament this week. Thompson qualified for the Southern California Regionals by reaching the singles semifinals of the conference tournament. IVC's doubles team offreshmen Tyler Troung andMichael Sharp also qualified. Thompson had quite a run, winning three matches in the event. He received a bye in the first round. Thompson started in the round of 32 on Thursday and defeated Gabriel Dias of Cypress, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Thompson then beat Kevin Reifler of Fullerton, 6-0, 6-2 in the round of 16 and Torsten Keil-Long from C ypress, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in the semifinals on Friday. IVC's Sharp split singles contests in the conference event and was just one win away for qualifying for regionals. He also got a bye in the first round and then defeated Eric Barnard of Saddleback, 7-5, 6-3, in the round of 32 before losing to Oliver Andrzejczuk of Cypress, 6-3, 6-2, in the round of 16. IVC sophomoreChris Naamani won his first round singles match over Daniel Pham of Fullerton, 6-2, 6-1, before losing to Mark Mahan of Cypress, 6-3, 6-3, in the round of 32.Troung dropped his round of 32 singles match to Ghilherme DeSouza of Riverside, 6-2, 6-2. In doubles action, the IVC team of Sharp and Truong split its two matches, but still made the round of 16 and qualifiedfor regionals. The regional tournament is in early May at College of the Desert in Palm Springs. Conference Finals Results
3/31/2011 Lasers nearly pull off win over Saddleback
The Irvine Valley men's tennis team nearly pulled off its best win of the season. But Saddleback won two of three doubles matches to earn a 5-4 win over the Lasers in an Orange Empire Conference match on Thursday at IVC. Saddleback improved its record to 8-6 overall and 4-5 in conference. Irvine Valley's record slipped to 3-9 overall and 1-7 in conference. Irvine Valley split the six singles matches, getting wins from freshman
Justin Thompson at the No. 1 position, 6-0, 6-1, freshman
Tyler Troung at the No. 2 spot, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, and sophomore
Michael Zampiglia at No. 3, 6-0, 6-2. In doubles, only the team of Troung andfreshman
Michael Sharp picked up a victory, winning, 8-6, at the No. 1 position. Irvine Valley lost a close match at No. 2 doubles, 8-6. The Lasers finish up conference play when they travel to Orange Coast next Tuesday.
Singles
1. Justin Thompson (IVC) def. Eemaun Latifi (SC) 6-0, 6-1
2. Tyler Truong (IVC) def. Eric Barnard (SC) 6-7, 6-2, 6-0
3. Sina Sharifi (SC) def. Chris Naamani (IVC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Jake Barnard (SC) def. Michael Sharp (IVC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Michael Zampiglia (IVC) def. Jon Tran (SC) 6-0, 6-2
6. Omeed Latifi (SC) def. Ryan Sleiman (IVC) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1. J. Barnard/ S. Sharifi (SC) def. T. Troung/ M. Sharp (IVC) 8-6
2. J. Thompson/ C. Naamani (IVC) def. E. Barnard/ Will McKinney (SC) 8-6
3. E. Latifi/ O. Latifi (SC) def. M. Zampiglia/ R. Sleiman (IVC) 8-3
3/29/2011 Men's tennis team plays tough, but falls to Riverside
Irvine Valley's men's tennis team lost to Riverside, 7-2, in an Orange Empire Conference match on Tuesday at IVC. But the contest was a lot closer than the final score indicated. IVC lost two singles matches in three sets and also dropped a doubles contest, 9-8, in the defeat. Irvine Valley's record slipped to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in conference. Riverside improved to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in conference. The Lasers got a solid effort from freshman Justin Thompson at No. 1 singles. He defeated Jharen Gines, 6-0, 6-0. Freshmen Tyler Troung and Michael Sharp each played well, but lost in three sets in singles for the Lasers. IVC's top doubles team of Sharp and Troung was also edged in the 9-8 doubles set. The Lasers picked up a 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles from the team ofsophomoresRyan Sleiman and Michael Zampaglia.
Singles
Justin Thompson (IVC) def. Jharen Gines (RCC) 6-0, 6-0
Theo Arruda (RCC) def. Tyler Troung (IVC) 4-6, 6-0, 6-0
Ulises Banos (RCC) def. Chris Naamani (IVC) 6-2, 6-2
Gustavo Carvalho (RCC) def. Michael Sharp (IVC) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Spencer Melendez (RCC) def. Charles Huang (IVC) 6-2, 6-1
Guilherme De Souza (RCC) def. Michael Zampiglia (IVC) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
Gines/Melendez (RCC) def. Sharp/Troung (IVC) 9-8 (6)
Naamani/Thompson (IVC) def. Arruda/Talalay (RCC) 8-4
Banos/De Souza (RCC) def. Sleiman/Zampaglia (IVC) 8-0
3/24/2011 Irvine Valley tops Fullerton again in conference
The Irvine Valley men's tennis team had no problem with Fullerton in an Orange Empire Conference match on Thursday at Fullerton. The Lasers picked up their second win over Fullerton this season, beating the Hornets, 9-0. The Lasers topped the Hornets, 8-1, the first time the two sides met. Irvine Valley won all six singles sets in straight sets and not very many of the sets wereclose on Thursday. Freshman Justin Thompson won, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 1 singles, Tyler Troung came out on top, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Chris Naamani won, 6-4, 6-0, at the No. 3 position. Freshman Michael Sharp cruised, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 4 singles, sophomore Michael Zampiglia won, 6-1, 6-0, at the No. 5 spot and freshman Charles Huang won, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 6 singles. In doubles, Troung and Sharp teamed at the No. 1 spot to win, 8-3. Thompson and Naamani won, 8-2, at No. 2 doubles and sophomore Ryan Sleiman and Zampiglia came out on top, 8-4, at No. 3 doubles. Irvine Valley improved its record to 4-7 overall and 2-5 in conference.
2/11/2011 Men's tennis team earns first win of the season
After two close losses to start the 2011 season, the Irvine Valley men's tennis team picked up its first victory, beating El Camino, 7-2, in a non-conference match on the road Thursday afternoon. IVC dominated in the singles rounds, winning five of six contests. Justin Thompson beat Hila Lassu, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 1 spot for the Lasers. Chris Naamani won his third straight singles match to start the season, beating Yasuto Miyawali, 4-6, 6-1, 12-10. Michael Sharp won, 6-0, 6-1, over John Fisher at the No. 4 position. Charles Huang earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Anthony Espinoza at No. 5 singles for the Lasers and Michael Zampiglia came out on top, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) at the No. 6 spot for IVC. Irvine Valley No. 2 player Tyler Troung played well, but lost in three sets. In doubles, Irvine Valley captured two of three matches. Thompson and Sharp won, 6-2, 5-7, 10-3, at No. 2 doubles and Huang and Ryan Sleiman won, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 3 doubles for the Lasers.
Welcome to the Irvine Valley Collegemen's tennisweb page. IVC is located in Irvine California, five miles from Laguna Beach in Orange County.
Irvine Valley opened in 1979 and serves approximately 11,000 students offering a variety of majors and degrees.
Irvine Valley College has both men's and women's tennis teams that compete in the Orange Empire Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the state.
For more information about the men's tennis team please contact coachJohn Gossby e-mail at
jgoss@ivc.edu.