They call it the house of love. Under one roof, a blend of international students live together, attend the same school, and share an unmatched passion for tennis.

This season this group of student-athletes gathered together and dreamed of bringing a state championship for the tennis program at Fresno City College.

They didn’t know it at first. But head coach Steve Loop always knew they had it in them.

It wasn’t until an early season match against Foothill that the players too would begin believing.

In a match against one of the elites, the Rams would hold their ground and came away victorious.

“After that we believed we could be the best,” said Brazilian native, Andre Almeida .

And that confidence would carry the Rams all the way to the state championship.

As they entered the finale, the Rams found themselves paired up against another elite team, Mt. San Jacinto.

As expected the match was a battle throughout.

The Rams got off to a fast start and led 4-2 thanks to wins from Sam Bertram and Brian Harpin. But Mt. San Jacinto would fight back and tie the match. With the score tied at 4-4, Almeida and Christian Fischer had to take the victory in doubles and bring the title to FCC.

“I could see the game was in my hands,” said Almeida . “I felt it was in my control so I just said lets do this.”

Almeida and Fischer would do exactly as promised and put the finishing touches on FCC’s second state championship in men’s tennis. It was also FCC’s third state championship of the year. The wrestling team took the title in the fall while the men’s basketball program won the championship in March.

For a team connected like conjoined twins, the championship couldn’t be any sweeter.

“We all live in the same house so everything we do, we do together. If we go anywhere we go together,” said Almeida , who was also named the state’s player of the year.

After arriving to the U.S. just over a year ago, Almeida first attended Reedley College and later came to FCC.

Almeida , along with his doubles partner Fischer, had also contributed to the victory with wins in singles matches.

En route to winning the championship, the Rams have collected several individual awards. Almeida was named singles MVP while Sam Bertram and Adam DeRomas were named doubles MVPs. The Rams also placed seven players on the All-Big 8 Conference men’s tennis team.

Still it was the team that mattered most.

“Winning as individuals is nice but winning as a team is so much better,” said Almeida .