OJAI — Bruna Magalhaes, the No. 1 seed from SBCC, played near-perfect tennis at the 113th Ojai Tournament on Saturday in a pair of dominating wins that moved her into the singles final of the Community College State Women’s Tennis Tournament.
The freshman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil rolled past Remy Littrell of Palomar 6-0, 6-1 in her morning quarterfinal at the Ojai Valley Racquet Club and then beat No. 7 Nancy Ramirez of Bakersfield 6-1, 6-0 in an All-WSC semifinal.
Magalhaes topped Ramirez for the third time this year. She’s won five matches in the last three days at the State Tourney, boosting her perfect season record to 18-0.
“I played very well, I feel like I’m really tough right now,” said Magalhaes. “My serve really helps me and my forehand is good too. I’m excited about being in the final.”
She’ll take on No. 2 Sarah Anderson of Fullerton on Sunday at 11 a.m. at historic Libbey Park in Ojai. Anderson, a left-handed freshman, helped Fullerton win the women’s dual team title on Wednesday. She got past No. 3 Chun Young Shin of El Camino in Saturday’s semifinals, winning a marathon first set 7-6 (3) that lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours. Shin retired with an injury with the score 1-1 in the second set.
Magalhaes is trying to become the first State singles champion from SBCC.
“She’s playing really well right now,” said first-year Vaquero coach Ken Thomas. “She’s doing everything right, even the little things like playing all the points, no matter what the score is. She’s playing focused and she’s working hard.
“She has aches and pains right now but it’s been a long week and a long season. They have great trainers here. Thank goodness she’s young and she bounces back quick.”
