Ojai, Calif. --- Biola had a chance to compete in one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in all of the United States over the weekend, and for the first time in men's tennis history had a doubles pairing reach the finals in an Ojai Valley Tournament event.
 
The Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament is celebrating its 114^th annual incarnation, and it serves as a training ground for many future professional tennis players from the United States. The Eagles got a chance to compete at Libbey Park, a venue known as one of the most historic tennis complexes in the nation as it originated in 1917.
 
"To get to play at the famous Libbey Park has got to be even more of a thrill than playing at the practice courts at Indian Wells Tennis Gardens," said Women's Tennis Coach Dee Henry. "This is the oldest tournament in the United States, and almost all the pros who grew up in Southern California played at the Ojai."
 
Lucas Lee and Luke Mountain stole the show as the duo won two matches en route to a berth in the Men's Independent College doubles finals against Jake Yasgoor and Connor Sutton of Pomona-Pitzer College.
 
Mountain and Lee seemed primed to prove their No. 1 seeding as they took the first set 6-4. They had victory within their grasp in the second set, but eventually fell 7-6(5) and then went on to lose the deciding set 10-5 to finish second in their division.

"They weren't able to close it out, but fought hard to keep a win within reach," said Men's Tennis Coach David Goodman. "For two freshmen, I think they have grown a ton as a doubles team, and they will definitely contend for the Ojai championship for years to come."
 
Goodman had two other doubles pairings in the men's draws, as Isaiah Pekary and Tayven Townsend teamed up, as did Brandon Chang and Rodric Pence.
 
Pekary and Townsend put in a solid performance of their own, making it to the semifinals, only to face a showdown with their teammates Lee and Mountain. Pekary and Townsend had to begin their journey with a win in the round of 16, which Lee and Mountain earned a bye in. The duo got a runaway win over a pair from Westmont before edging out at 6-4, 6-3 win over Garrett Deguchi and Sean Hollister from UC Santa Cruz in the quarterfinals.
 
"In the doubles we had a strong showing with our top two teams," said Goodman. "They played each other in the semifinals and I felt the match was a coin flip. Luke and Lucas played solid throughout the match and deserved to make it to the finals."
 
Mountain and Lee also performed with vigor in their singles matches and each player made it all the way to the quarterfinals before suffering a loss. Lee was the No. 1-seeded men's singles player in the tournament. Mountain and Pence both suffered losses to top-four seeds.
 
Pence earned a solid singles victory against Thiago Brito of Hope International in a three-set thriller in the round of 32. It was an upset win, as Pence was just 6-15 in singles this season.
 
"Last year I do not think Rodric would have competed well with Thiago, but that goes to show how much effort he has put into his game to get the win," said Goodman.
 
The women's squad did not compete with a full team, but rather had Maura Lopez, Madeline Heer and Kelsey Post as its only singles competitors. All three suffered losses in their first match of the tournament, getting retired in the round of 64 or round of 32.
 
"This event was played with focus and fight," said Henry. "They all had some excellent points and Maura played the No. 2 seed very well."
 
Lopez drew Andrea Madrigal of the University of La Verne in her round of 32 match. Madrigal was the No. 2 seed in the Women's Independent College Singles bracket. Lopez lost in straight sets, but force Madrigal to work for the win.
 
"Maura made less unforced errors than her opponent. She had a very complete game with lots of winners," said Henry. "Maura definitely made her opponent earn her points."
 
The Eagles' women's squad also sent two doubles teams to the Ojai. The pairings of Heer and Olivia Koelsch and Post and Paige Erickson both suffered losses in their first matches.
 
Both pairings faced top-four seeds in round of 16 matches. Heer and Koelsch actually managed to win five games against their talented opponents out of Whittier College.
 
Biola's men's team finished second overall in their division with 10 individual wins, while Pomona-Pitzer took home the first-place crown with 11 individual titles. The doubles finals match between Lee and Mountain and Yasgoor and Sutton decided the difference.
 
Biola is now officially finished with tennis action for this season, and they will resume with next year's ITA/USTA regional tournament.