Women’s Tennis: Vikings' Hyacinth, Gonzalez advance to State Championships

The Long Beach City College doubles team of sophomore Jasmine Hyacinth and freshman Maria Gonzalez have earned a spot in the 2016 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Tennis State Championship tournament, set for April 21-24 in Ventura County.

Opening round matches on Thursday and Friday will be played at Ventura College with championship round action moving to the Ojai Valley Athletic Club for Saturday and Sunday.

Hyacinth and Gonzalez earned the fifth and final South Coast Conference back draw spot into the state championships.

The duo opened the SCC tournament on Thursday with an 8-0 loss to the team of Kristen Russo and Amberley Huang from Mt. San Antonio College. But Hyacinth and Gonzalez earned a win in the back draw to secure their spot in the state tournament.

Also on Thursday at the SCC Championships, the Viking doubles team of freshman Mimi Mercado and sophomore Dolores Cervantez was eliminated with an 8-1 loss to Natsuki Hoshiko and Jade Shugars of El Camino College.

In singles, Mercado suffered an 8-1 loss to Rachel Eshillonu of El Camino, Hyacinth lost 8-0 to Valentina Polonyi of Cerritos, and Cervantez fell 8-0 to Violet Simpson of El Camino in opening-round matches.

This marks the second consecutive season the Vikings will be represented at the state championships. Last year, the duo of Nikki Tigas and Judith Aguilar qualified in doubles with Tigas reaching the third round of the singles tournament.