VENTURA - The American River College women's tennis team handed Orange Coast its first defeat of the season in winning the 2023 CCCAA State Championship 5-3 Wednesday in Ventura on the first day of The Ojai Tournament. Bella Hernandez and Lane Reddick gave the Beavers (14-3) a key win at No. 3 doubles and ARC's Carla Montaruli clinched the title with a win in No. 1 singles. 

The match was close throughout with both teams holding the upper hand at various points during play.  

American River jumped out to a 4-1 lead in No. 2 doubles before OCC won four of five games to even the match at 5-5. Mandi Pinkerton and Maiah White then won the final three games of the contest to put ARC ahead 1-0 after their 8-5 triumph. 

Orange Coast (21-1) maintained control at No. 1 doubles with Logan Koitka and Madeleine Veltri breaking ARC's Carla Montaruli and Davina Escalante to go ahead 3-2. Koitka and Veltri extended their advantage to 7-4 with another break before Montaruli and Escalante captured the next two games to pull within 7-6. Koiota and Veltri righted the ship to take the match in the next game to get the Pirates on the board. 

The No. 3 doubles match proved to be pivotal in deciding the championship. The teams traded leads with OCC's Camila Nelson and Leanne Pascua up a break 3-2 before Bella Hernandez and Lane Reddick won two straight to go ahead 4-3. OCC rebounded to take the next two games before the Beavers won three straight to serve for the match leading 7-5. The Pirates then tied the contest at 7-7 and again at 8-8 forcing the tiebreaker. Hernandez and Reddick scored the first five points of the extra play before Nelson and Pascua captured six of the next seven winners. American River's duo broke an 8-8 deadlock in the tiebreaker with two winners to give the point and the lead in the match to the Beavers, 9-8 (10-8). 

" Through the season we worked really hard and focused on doubles," said American River's Montaruli, a sophomore from Bari, Italy. "Our goal was to get two points in doubles. Every ball mattered and our will to win brought us the match."  

The match remained close in singles play. Orange Coast took the lead for the first time in the contest as Veltri defeated Hernandez 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 and Olivia Spipiora bested Mandi Pinkerton at No. 5, 6-3, 6-0. 

In the No. 2 singles match, Nelson went ahead 5-2 for OCC before Escalante came storming back to win four straight games to hold a 6-5 margin. After Nelson squared the score, Escalante captured the tiebreaker to take the set, 7-6 (8-6). Using the momentum of the close win, Escalante blew past Nelson in the second, taking the set 6-2 and evening the championship at 3-3. 

ARC's White won her first set at No. 3, 6-3 over Coast's Sedona Smith. Smith then jumped ahead in the second 4-3 when White rallied. The set was knotted at four when the two players went back and forth to deuce. Smith had a return that barely missed going over the net, giving the advantage to White, and the ARC's No. 3 player never looked back. She won the second set 6-4, putting the Beavers on the cusp of the title. 

In the No. 1 singles contest, the Pirates' Koitka rolled in the opening set to go ahead 6-2. Montaruli rebounded, however, evening the match with a 6-1 triumph in the second set. Despite tough play from Koitka, Montaruli maintained her momentum, clinching the championship for American River with a 6-1 win in the third. 

In No 6 singles, OCC's Pascua won the first set 7-6 and ARC's Reddick was leading 6-5 in the second when the Beavers captured the crown. 

"Playing the clinching point is not easy," said Montaruli. "I focused on my match for the team." 

"It was the best match we played all season." 

American River 5, Orange Coast 3 
Doubles
1. Koitka/Veltri (OCC) def. Montaruli/ Escalante (ARC), 8-6
2. Pinkerton/White (ARC) def. Smith/Sipiora (OCC), 8-5
3. Hernandez/Reddick (ARC) def. Nelson/Pascua (OCC), 9-8 (10-8) 

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3 

Singles
1.  Carla Montaruli (ARC) def. Logan Koitka (OCC), 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
2.  Davina Escalante (ARC) def. Camila Nelson (OCC), 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
3.  Maiah White (ARC) def. Sedona Smith (OCC), 6-3, 6-4
4.  Madeleine Veltri (OCC) def. Bella Hernandez (ARC), 6-0, 6-1
5.  Olivia Sipiora (OCC) def. Mandi Pinkerton (ARC), 6-3, 6-0
6.  Leanne Pascua (OCC) up vs. Lane Reddick (ARC), 7-5, 5-6, DNF 

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2, 3, 1 

(Robin Hester, Ventura College Athletics)