Posted: Apr 17, 2026
Irvine Valley's men's tennis team is aiming to get back to a 3C2A Championship final in Ventura.
The same spot where a year ago, the Lasers defeated Foothill, 5-2, for the state title.
To get there, Irvine Valley, seeded first in the 3C2A So. Cal. Regional Playoffs, will have to get past No. 7 Glendale, on Saturday at home.
Match start time is 2 p.m.
The postseason run for Glendale College continued to gain momentum on Tuesday, as the Vaqueros delivered a statement victory over Western State Conference rival Bakersfield College, earning a 5-0 win.
Bakersfield had defeated Glendale both times during the regular season. But it was a different story on Tuesday,
Glendale sweptthe three doubles matches and then No. 2 player Vartan Tolmoyan and No. 6 player Sean Coffey each won in straight sets to close out the 5-0 victory.
The Vaqueros have a record of 16-4 overall and went 3-3 in WCC play.
Irvine Valley cruised in its second-round match on Tuesday, defeating No. 5 Ventura at home, 5-0, Tuesday.
The win improved Irvine Valley's record to 12-1 overall.
IVC's only defeat on the year was to four-year Gustavas Adolphus, 5-4, on Mar. 2.
The Lasers won the Orange Empire Conference title with a record of 8-0.
Irvine Valley freshman No. 1 player Philip Neuman was named the singles player of the year and Neuman and freshman No. 2 player Steven Anderson earned doubles team of the year honors in the conference.
Ross Duncan was selected as the coach of the year in the OEC.
On Tuesday in the Lasers' victory over Ventura, Irvine Valley won all three doubles matches.
But it was tough on the first and third courts. Neuman and Anderson won, 8-6, on the first court and freshman Richard Petery and sophomore Jonathan Hinkel came through with an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles.
Neuman then took care of business at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph and freshman Humam Alajeely closed things out at No. 4 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 finish.
Sophomore Bradley Yung was also ahead in the second set on the sixth court for the Lasers.
The winner of Saturday's contest moves on to the state final against the No. Cal. winner on Wednesday, Apr. 22 at Ventura College.
The singles and doubles state tournament then takes place at Ojai from Apr. 23-26.
