In their final non-conference match before the start of the South Coast Conference Tournament, the Cerritos College men’s tennis team suffered a difficult 5-4 loss at home against Orange Coast College on Thursday.

The loss drops the Falcons, who recently concluded their third straight undefeated conference season, to 12-4 on the year.

The team will now compete in the SCC tournament this Thursday though Saturday at Long Beach City College. In addition to the freakish weather that hit the area that day, several other strange occurrences took place during the match.

First off, sophomore twins Jeffrey Vachirajongkol (Paramount HS) and Jackie Vachirajongkol (Paramount HS) posted an easy 8-0 win in their #1 doubles match over Jonathan Kroopf and Giovanni Villicani. But when they faced the same two in singles matches, both brothers lost their matches.

Jeffrey, playing in the #1 position, lost a tough 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 match to Kroopf, while Jackie suffered through a 1-6, 2-6 setback at the hands of Villicani. Another strange occurrence was the first loss of the season by sophomore doubles partners Chris Chutikorn (Cerritos HS) and James Lee (Cerritos HS), as they lost an 8-5 decision to Patrick Lam and Charlie Nguyen.

Chutikorn did come back for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Lam, while Lee was defeated by Nguyen, 6-0. 6-1. Of the three singles matches that were extended to a third set, the Falcons won two of them, as sophomore Michael Stripling (Santa Fe HS) came back against Andy Ong after losing the first set to post a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win.

As for freshman JC Dauz (Gahr HS), he dropped a close 6-7 (4), 5-7 match against Kevin Kordestani. Stripling and Dauz did win their doubles match, as they defeated their singles opponents by an 8-6 score. In the upcoming conference tournament, Jeffrey Vachirajongkol was seeded #1 in singles, with Jackie Vachirajongkol right behind at #2.

Last season, the two were seeded the same, with Jackie defeating his brother for the conference title. Chutikorn was also seeded high, and was put in the #3 spot, while Lee was seeded eighth.

In doubles action the Vachirajongkol brothers were seeded #2 and lost in the finals last season to Lee and his brother Cooper Lee.

This season Lee and Chutikorn are seeded #4, while Stripling and Dauz are seeded third.