For the women’s tennis team, it came down to the final conference match to determine who would be crowned the 2005 South Coast Conference champion.

Unfortunately, the Warriors (10-3, 6-2) lost to the first-place Cerritos Falcons, 5-4, ending their regular season with a second place finish in conference.

“It’s pretty sad. They are a good team and I congratulate them for winning the conference,” Kim Espiritu, No. 1 player, said regarding the match against the Falcons.

All is not lost for the Warriors; they look forward to competing in two tournaments, one being the conference tournament and the other is the Ojai Tournament.

In such a close match, the final result rested on the shoulders of Espiritu in her singles match.

However, Espiritu lost, 5-7, 2-6, giving the Falcons the win and the conference championship.

“It was pretty close, but I lost my match. It actually came down to me, but I didn’t win,” Espiritu said. “I tried my best and my hardest, but the other person was more solid.”

Despite the untimely loss, Espiritu will not be able to sulk because of the tremendous support and confidence her teammates have in her.

“Kim is a fighter, she gave it her all and that’s great,” Brianna Dalo said. “If that is the best you can do, that is the best you can do.”

“I’m not disappointed at all and I’m very proud of her playing,” Kim Nguyen said. “She played to the best of her ability and she is our top player, so I was very proud of her.”

Finishing the season with both a strong overall and conference record will help aid the team as it prepares for the upcoming postseason tournaments.

“I am proud of our team and I think we played our best,” Nguyen said about the season. “I think all of us improved and I don’t have any regrets.”

“As a whole, I think a lot of us did physically improve,” Dalo said regarding the strides the team has taken toward inprovement.

The upcoming South Coast Conference tournament, to be held April 12-14 at Mt. San Antonio College, will see many rematches from conference play; the top singles individuals and doubles teams compete.

“We will be playing against a lot of schools, so it’s going to be fun,” Espiritu said.

The tournament also acts as a satellite to the Southern California Regionals, held at Long Beach City College, April 28-30. If one places well, will advance to the State Championships in Fresno, taking place May 5-6.

“There will probably be a lot of tough matches,” Dalo said in reference to the upcoming tournaments.