Chabot College freshman Zoe Olmos made history with two state titles on Saturday, May 7 at the CCCAA Women's State Tennis Championships, winning the singles title and teaming with Julie Santiago to notch the doubles championship in Walnut.
Olmos, a Kennedy-Fremont graduate, became the first Chabot woman to win a singles championship.
Olmos and Santiago, of Kamehameha (HI), earned Chabot's first state doubles crown since 2002. The dynamic duo didn't lose one set in the four matches at Mt. San Antonio College, taking the title over South No. 1 seed Nicole West and Kai Nikchevich of Santa Monica College, 6-3, 6-3.
In the singles finals, Olmos, seeded No. 1 from the North, won in straight sets over South No. 1 West, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
Previously, current Chabot assistant coach, Dmitry Dzyuba, won the only men's singles title for Chabot 19 years ago.
Olmos beat South No. 2 Anna Kynclova of L.A. Mission 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals.
In the hard-fought finals, Olmos was tied 1-1 in the opening set, before rolling to a 4-1 lead and taking the 6-3 win. In a second-set tiebreaker, West had a 4-1 lead, but the determined Olmos won six of the next seven points to prevail, 7-5.
"The hardest part of the match is closing it out," Olmos told John Sherrard of CCCSIA/Mt. San Antonio College Athletics. "It's so close to the end. It's just mental and I had to regroup to be able to close it out in two sets. This was really fun and it was really exciting to know I was the first women's champion (for Chabot)."
Chabot coach Rick Morris, in his 22nd year at the college, was thrilled with Olmos' clutch performance.
"Maybe it was meant to be," said Morris, who coached Dzyuba to the men's singles title. "I coached Dmitry in 2003 and that year we actually won the state doubles too.
"When (Dzyuba) became my assistant coach, he started a junior academy and (Zoe) came up through the academy."
In the men's CCCAA State tourney, Chabot's Adam Waghray, the North No. 4, fell to South No. 5 Andrew Suver of San Diego City 6-3, 6-2, and North No. 6 Adam Linette lost to South No. 3 Raymundo Chavez of College of the Desert, 6-1, 6-2.
In men's doubles, Linette and Waghray, the North No. 4, fell to South No. 5 Braun Simo and Pierre Van de Gauer of Iverness College 6-4, 6-2.