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Rams rock 'Runners
By TIM HARAN Staff Writer
2007-03-07 06:46:49
© Daily Press, a Freedom Communications Newspaper
VICTORVILLE - The sun had set and many of her teammates had long since finished playing by the time Victor Valley College’s Rosey Reveron rallied to win her No. 2 singles match in a third-set tiebreak.
Reveron outlasted College of the Desert’s Liv Olsen 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday, capping nearly four hours of tennis and boosting VVC to a 7-2 victory in its Foothill Conference opener. “It was a mental game,” sixth-year VVC coach Marites Killion said. “It was a matter of convincing (the team) that as long as they knew they did their best coming off the court, I don't care if they win or lose. Rosey was beating herself up like there was no tomorrow, but she came back and got a big win. She really needed it."
VVC (4-2, 1-0 FC) won two of the three doubles matches and picked up five singles victories, with two of those matches decided in three sets.
"These teams were very close,” first-year COD coach Rebecca Vinyard said. “The girls had fun; it was very exciting."
Vinyard believes the Rams, who finished second behind Rio Hondo College in last season’s conference race, have what it takes to once again be a contender.
"They're going to be a tough team,” she said. “They'll be tough to beat."
The Rams are a squad filled with High Desert-grown talent, paced by Reveron and Ashley Oliveira at the top singles spots. The duo teams up to play No. 1 doubles, and on Tuesday coasted to a 10-1 victory over Olsen and Asha Hajduga.
Oliveira, who won a Mojave River League title the same year Reveron won a Desert Sky League crown, started slowly against COD’s (0-1, 0-1 FC) Hajduga at No. 1 singles. She had her serve broken twice before her slice-and-charge approach helped her win the next 11 games in a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
"It usually takes a while to figure out my serve and to see what the other player’s doing,” said Oliveira, who’s playing her third sport in as many seasons for VVC. “I lost my serve twice but I knew I'd get it back. ... I was trying to slice and go to the net because that seemed to be the only thing that was working for me."
Charisse Brown, playing in her first match of the season, won 7-6 (4), 6-4 at No. 4 singles to clinch the VVC victory long before Reveron’s match concluded.
"In a couple weeks I'll be good as new,” Brown, 46, joked after her singles victory, which started moments after she and Leora Tejas fell 11-9 in a grueling doubles match.
Tim Haran can be reached via e-mail at tharan@vvdailypress.com or at 955-5303.