Buyse sisters upset No. 8 seed on opening day of State Tourney

Jamaica and Joica Buyse surprised the No. 8 seed from the North to move into the Round of 32 in the women's doubles at the State Tennis Tournament, which is being played at the 119th Ojai.

Buyse/Buyse, SBCC's freshmen twin sister tandem from Belgium, knocked off Mar Bugueno/Faamanu Noa of Cañada 6-4, 6-4 in the Round of 64. They'll face another No. 8 seed from the South – Heather Graf/Yasmin Johnson of Riverside – in Friday's Round of 32 at Buena High at 1 p.m.

The Buyse sisters both lost to seeded players in singles and the other four players from SBCC's WSC championship squad were also eliminated.

Anya Nicolaides fell to No. 11 Elina Grigoryan of Sierra 6-0, 6-4. Victoria Dafos was leading No. 16 Stella Davidsdottir of Cabrillo 5-2 when she had to retire with an injury.

In doubles, Nicolaides/Dafos took their first set 6-3 before defaulting due to injury. Maddie Mitchell and Julia Jakobsen outlasted Jane Quach/Jesielle Valles of Rio Hondo 6-2, 2-6, 15-13 in a 10-point tiebreaker. Then they fell to the No. 3 seed from Sierra, 6-1, 6-1.

"We were battling various injuries and couldn't put forth our best effort in singles and doubles," said second-year coach Christina Klein. "Jamaica and Joica are pretty tough and were able to pull through despite having to deal with injuries."