After a long awaited return to play, the Riverside City College men's tennis team hit the courts Tuesday afternoon on the road against Orange Coast College in their Orange Empire Conference (OEC) season opener. The Tigers rebounded from over a year long absence and looked as if they never left the courts.

Riverside tightly grasped an early advantage by snagging the top two doubles matches. Sophomore tandem Aurelien Arlot and Florian Sirven set their game on cruise control and coasted to an easy 8-0 win. Sophomore captain Chris Lee teamed up with freshman Justin Rigsby and posted an 8-2 win.

Sophomores Jack McMahon and Matthew Stark fell short in a 7-8 affair, dropping the tiebreaker 3-7.

The early momentum handed Riverside all the confidence they would need as they swept singles with ease. All six matches ended in two sets.

Freshman Rafael Rullan had the hardest earned victory in his inaugural collegiate appearance with a 7-6, 6-4 win. Arlot and Sirven followed with wins at the second and third position, respectively.

Lee pocketed a 6-3, 6-0 win, while Rigsby reigned supreme in his first-career singles match by the final count of 6-1, 6-0. Freshman Carlos Rullan made waves at the sixth position with a 6-0, 6-1 win.

Sirven, one of RCC's returners, was confident that his team was ready to play and was happy with their performance.

"We all played pretty well," said Sirven. "We all stayed focused and that is a pretty good start to the season."

He clinched the match at the fifth position and felt great with his individual performance.

"I am proud of myself, but I am also proud of my teammates. We all deserve this first win because worked out really hard these past two, three weeks. I am very proud of my team."

Riverside (1-0) will continue action at home on Thursday, April 22 at home against OCC for the series finale. No fans are permitted to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Release by Nicho DellaValle, RCC SID