Alex Sarkissian and Trevor Campbell dominated the Ojai Valley Tournament and made history by bringing home both the singles and doubles tournament titles.
“The Ojai”is an extremely prestigious tournament that has been going on for 111 years.
Sarkissian battled and won six straight matches to take the singles title. He joined Campbell to again win six straight matches to take the doubles crown. This was only the third time ever that one school has swept both singles and doubles.
“It was pretty physically demanding because I was playing 3 matches a day and on one of the days, I played 4 matches,” said Sarkissian.
Sarkissian said the tournament was physically and mentally brutal. “It was good to pull it through with a victory!” said Sarkissian.
The singles competition was handled easily by Sarkissian. He dominated every first set of his matches., winning them by a score of 6-2 or better. This is to be expected from someone who has faced players ranked as high as No.26 in the world.
Sarkissian and Campbell, the doubles team, were impressive in all rounds of the tournament but showed their dominance in the first two rounds. Their first round match was against Fisher/Miyawaki of El Camino College. They were dealt with easily with a score of 6-0, 6-1. In the second round, they beat the team of Bertram/Leo from Fresno City College 6-0, 6-1.
“Coach Bob (McKay) has a really solid program,” said Sports Information Director Alex Leon. “This speaks to his ability to recruit.”
Campbell/Sarkissian were pressured in the third round. They won the first set by only one break of serve 6-4. The next set they trampled the team of Bragg/Valadares of Mt. SAC, taking the set 6-0.
Their fourth round match was a flip of the third. They beat Dias/Withana of Cypress 6-0 6-4.
The next two rounds involved first set tiebreaks, testing their grittiness and resolve. The first set tiebreak against Fischer/Sandry of College of the Desert was tight. Campbell and Sarkissian pulled through and took the tiebreak 9-7. After that set, the spirits of the desert-walkers were broken. The Vaquero team took the set 6-2.
The final match against Andrzejczuk/Keil-Long was the tightest of the tournament. Campbell and Sarkissian played this team twice during the season, losing both matches. This time, the Glendale duo was able to come through during critical points to win 7-6, 6-4.
