The Vaqueros duo trailed, 6-3, in the tiebreaker before rattling off five consecutive points to put them within one victory of advancing to the state tournament next week.
“They won five straight points, so they find a way to win these kinds of matches,” MacKay said. “It’s what they’ve done a few times during the season.
“When they have their backs to the wall, they tend to play more relaxed and loose. Maybe that’s the nature of the beast when you are competing in these kind of tournaments.”
Nagapetyan and Gortinski, who started off the tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Wesley Sadvin and Benjamin Roy of Fullerton College, will next meet the top-seeded duo of Yair Banuelos and Daniel Coelho of Riverside Community College in a round-of-16 match at 12:30 p.m. today. The winner will automatically advance to the state tournament, which will be held Thursday through May 9 at American River College in Sacramento.
Glendale college’s Rony Yeghnazary will also compete in the singles competition today after earning a first-round bye before picking up a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 second-round victory against Daniel Bulthuis of Grossmont College. The 10th-seeded Yeghnazary will meet Alexander Piccin of Ventura College in a round-of-16 contest at 9 a.m.
Glendale college’s women’s team saw the doubles team of Meldia Hacobian and Monique Palmera secure a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 second-round win against a team from Rio Hondo College, after Hacobian and Palmera had a first-round bye in the tournament held at Orange Coast Community College. They will next meet a team from Riverside Community College in a round-of-16 match at 1 p.m. today.
