Nikchevich, the no. 6 seed in the Western State Championships, started the day with 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal upset win against the no. 3 seed Minnie Mardrosians of Glendale College. In the other quarterfinal featuring a SMC player, Nicole West followed with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ventura College's no. 1 singles player, Hannah Dever. With both SMC's West and Nikchevich advancing to the semifinals, an all-SMC final was in the works. The last time the WSC Champs had two SMC players in the Finals of the WSC Championships was 2017 when Mayra Jovic and Srna Lepchevska faced off for the WSC title which Jovic won 6-0, 6-0.
West was first to set up an all-SMC WSC final with a quick semi-final 6-0, 6-0 win against Kristi Henderson of Antelope Valley College.
In the other semifinal, Nikchevich dropped the first set to Anna Klyncova 6-2 but then Nilchevich steeled herself and took control of the second set, winning the first 4 games, jumping ahead to a 4-0 lead. Kynclova fought back hard winning six straight games to take the second set 6-4 and a ticket to the final against West set for Friday, April 8, 2022 (11:00am start).
This will be the season's third match up of SMC's West versus LAMC's Kynclova. West, the no. 1 ranked player in the WSC, is 2-0 against Kynclova, the no. 2 ranked player in the WSC. West defeated Kynclova 6-4, 3-6 (10-8) on February 22, 2022 at LAMC and 6-3, 6-3 on March 22, 2022 at SMC.
After singles play, West and Nikchevich then advanced to the WSC doubles semifinal with an 8-0 quarterfinal win against LAMC's no. 2 doubles team.
NOTES:
West is now 15-0 in singles.
Nikchevich is 14-2 in singles.
West/Nikchevich remain undefeated in doubles with a 13-0 record.
NEXT UP:
Day 4, the final day of the Western State Conference Championships, begins at 11:00am on Friday April 8, 2022
West and Nikchevich make a bid for the doubles title on April 8, 2022 with a 1:00pm semifinal match. If West and Nikchevich win their semifinal match, they will be the WSC doubles final scheduled to start at 3:00pm on April 8th.