Hedberg, Sekban advance to Round of 32 in State

SBCC's Sasha Hedberg and Emerson Sekban moved into the Round of 32 on Thursday on the first day of the CCCAA Men's Tennis State Championships at the 116th Ojai Valley Tournament.

Hedberg, the No. 5 seed in the South, had a first-round bye, then beat Sean Lee of Grossmont 6-2, 6-2. He'll take on Erik Martinez of Mt. SAC in Friday's Round of 32 at Pacifica High in Oxnard at 8 a.m.

Sekban, a freshman from England, swept Ross Killingbeck of San Diego Mesa 6-2, 6-2 in the first round and upset Igor Pissarenko (No. 5 North) of Foothill 6-3, 6-2. Sekban will take on Agustin Lombardi (No. 11 South) of Cerritos on Friday in an 8 a.m. match at Pacifica High.

Sekban also got to the Round of 32 in doubles with Andrew Tufenkian. They beat Mathias Burlingame/Nicholas Wight (No. 15 North) of Santa Rosa 6-1, 6-0 in the second round. They'll face the No. 1 team from the South, Sam Cohen/Javi Velasco of state team champion Irvine Valley, on Friday at Pacifica High, starting at 1 p.m.

Hedberg and Parker Turek won a first-round doubles match by default, then fell to Pissarenko/Brandon Holt of Foothill in a tight battle that came down to a pro tiebreaker, 6-1, 6-7 (4), 10-3.

SBCC's third doubles team of Ryan Chung/Derek Lipanski knocked off Justin Manigo/Andrew Miyazato of El Camino 6-4, 6-2 before falling to the No. 2 North duo, Alex Meliuk/Cody Duong of American River, 6-1, 6-3.