High Desert Tennis AssociationHigh Desert Tennis Association

Tennis Notebook: All eyes on VVC next week

By GERALD TANG / Staff Writer
2007-04-25 00:02:00
© Daily Press, a Freedom Communications Newspaper

If timing is everything, the Victor Valley College women’s team looks virtuoso.

It starts with the golden girl Ashley Oliveira, who stars in just about every sport she tries — soccer, basketball and of course, tennis. I'll bet if she fell into a pool with a ball, Oliveira would be piling up goals in water polo before somebody found a towel.

Also meet Rosey Reveron, another hyperactive freshman who is studying to become an emergency room doctor. She teamed with Oliveira this past weekend to win the doubles title at the Foothill Conference championships in Lancaster.

During one long Saturday, Oliveira finished her rained-out semifinal match, beat Antelope Valley’s Brina Joffe for the singles championship, then joined Reveron to bring home another title.

"I was dying,” Oliveira said. “I didn't think I could do it. When it was done, I was kind of like, “I can't believe I just did that.'"

Here’s where the impeccable timing comes in: VVC has been selected to host the Southern California regional championships for the first time.

The event will run May 3-5 and bring top players from 35 college teams to the High Desert. To qualify, players must advance to at least the quarterfinals of a conference championship.

Joining Oliveira and Reveron will be the Rams doubles squads of Tricia Lockwood-Teresa Olin and Amy Scott-Charisse Brown.

Oliveira will be the only VVC representative in singles competition. For the record, Reveron would have been a virtual lock to qualify if her anatomy test hadn't conflicted with the conference tournament schedule.

It’s quite the intense career path Reveron has chosen.

"I'm just a fast-paced kind of person,” she said. “I can't sit still or be at home bored. I have to be moving. That’s probably why I can't give up sports yet."

GENTLEMANLY SPORT: I was struck by some good etiquette during Monday’s matchup between Sultana and Serrano. It’s been a close rivalry all season, and the league championship essentially was at stake.

In this case, intensity and class weren't mutually exclusive.

When the Diamondbacks' Sam Sussman thought he lost a point, Sultana’s Tenis Taing adamantly called his own shot out. Later, after Taing took a hard spill and rolled his ankle, Sussman ran across the court to check on him while teammate Peter Turrill signaled to Sultans coach Wayne Elliott for help.

Taing went on to finish the match and lead his team to victory.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Singles — It was a short week with Friday’s matches postponed due to weather. Hesperia’s Nick Thoms had a strong outing in a tough road setting at Rim of the World. The senior lost the No. 1 matchup in a tiebreaker, then won two sets at 6-1.

Gerald Tang can be reached at gtang@vvdailypress.com or 951-6281.

See the full story here.