Ojai, Calif. - Once again, Irvine Valley College flexes its dominance, placing two players in the Ojai singles final. Freshmen teammates Steven Anderson and Philip Neuman will face off for the title tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. at Libbey Park.
In a repeat of last year's final, when Irvine Valley teammates Nick Grove and Luis Moros competed for the championship, the 2026 edition once again features an all-Irvine Valley College showdown.
In the first semifinal, Neuman delivered against Cabrillo College Jack Van Ness. Neuman moved fluidly and was laser-focused throughout the match. Despite Van Ness's ability to generate power from both wings, Neuman had no problem with the pace. Matter of fact, he was using his pace against him.
Although the scoreline may appear one-sided, the match was competitive. Points were well constructed, and many of Van Ness's uncharacteristic errors were the result of Neuman's ability to create pressure with the ball.
After securing a service break to go up 4–2 in the first set, Neuman held serve to extend the lead to 5–2, at which point the momentum was entirely on his side. His groundstrokes began landing deeper, while Van Ness's shots started to miss. Neuman continued to dictate the point, Van Ness struggled to find answers. Neuman ultimately took the first set, 6–3.
Van Ness was broken in the opening game of the second set, setting the stage for Neuman that if he played consistent, this game would most likely be in hand. With rain approaching and Neuman leading 3–0, 30–love, play was suspended for 30 minutes due to damp court conditions. Once play resumed, Neuman quickly closed out the match. He never allowed Van Ness to recover and take advantage of of the rain delay.
The second semifinal featured IVC's Anderson against Bakersfield's Mateusz Lipzynski. The match was delayed until 2:00 p.m. after Anderson had a three-set battle against Glendale's David Tinajero, which he won, 5–7, 6–3, 7–6(4). After just a one-hour break, Anderson returned to the court to compete for a place in the final.
As seen in his earlier match against Bakersfield, Anderson proved to be one of the most complete players in the field. He combines deceptive speed with a unique ball that disrupts opponents' timing. Regardless of Lipzynski's power, Anderson consistently neutralized rallies with solid backhands and well-timed slices to reset points—an increasingly rare but highly effective tactic in today's game.
In addition to his movement, Anderson's versatility will pose a challenge for Neuman in the final, as long as he recovers from his full day of tennis. His ability to keep the ball low with his slice, combined with a well-disguised, higher-bouncing moon ball, gives him multiple ways to disrupt rhythm and control points.
However, what makes Neuman strong is his ability to not only control the ball with natural strokes, but is rarely bothered by anyone that changes the pace on him. One other weapon that Neuman brings with him is his first serve. He has tendencies to win easy points off the serve.
This match will come down to 'who gets to the first ball faster.' In other words, which player can find the short ball to punish, which then sets up the next 2 through 3 shots.
In men's doubles, Ventura College's Caua Coimbra and Abladj Mondroha advanced with a 6–3, 6–3 victory over Irvine Valley's Richard Petery and Jonathan Hinkel. They will face San Diego City College's Hunter Lynch and Thomas Lynch, who rallied to defeat Glendale College's David Tinajero and Lance Morgan, 4–6, 6–4, 10–7.
On the bottom side of the draw, Bakersfield College's Shang En Kao and Axl Lajon Gonzaga delivered a 6–0, 6–2 win over San Diego City College's Jun Dilmaghanian and Jacques Allende. They are set to take on Irvine Valley College's Nevin McCann and Bradley Yung, who defeated teammates Neuman and Anderson, 6–3, 6–4.
Both doubles semifinals are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at Libbey Park.
Courtesy of Bo Navarro, CCCSIA
