For tennis teams that came in with little expected of them, the men’s and women’s tennis teams are quickly adapting and succeeding as they defeated Mt. San Antonio, 7-0, Tuesday.
The next match for the Warriors is against Long Beach City at home tomorrow.
The women’s tennis team only has two returning players in Lateefa Brown and Lucy Rivera while the men only have one returning player in Clark Colde.
“Most of the players just walked onto the team,” coach Steve Van Kanegan said.
Yesterday’s match was the third match of conference play, with the men (2-1) and the women (1-2) both earning conference victories.
“The men have some very consistent singles’ players,” Van Kanegan said. “The women on the team have a lot of hustle. They do what they can to win each point; they don’t give up easily. Their work ethic makes them better.”
With EC starting late in the season compared to other teams, the team has had less time to prepare and to practice.
“The team will begin to build consistency and experience,” Van Kanegan said.
One of the major problems for the tennis teams is the fact that their courts had to be moved to North High School due to the construction on campus.
“It has been quite an inconvenience, but there is really nothing we can do about it,” Van Kanegan said. “Players sometimes show up late to practice due to commuting, but it’s either this or cancel the program, and none of us want that,” Van Kanegan said.
With construction preventing the teams from playing at home, EC has to play all of its matches on the road.
“The major downside is that (playing all our road games) will begin to wear on the players,” Van Kanegan said.
Another problem facing the team is the lack of experience; therefore, the difficulty of finding a team leader is an issue.
“Coble is someone we are looking to for leadership, and the same for the returning women,” Van Kanegan said.
With only three players returning, the rest of the team has yet to play a game on the schedule, making team chemistry a chief concern.
“Some of them (players) came in, having not played in a while, so they’re getting acquainted with their skills,” Van Kanegan said. “Everyone has gotten to know each other better; the team has only been together for a month, some players have only been with us a couple of weeks.”
Despite the early season struggles, the outlook looks brighter as the team continues to build chemistry and learn to play with each other.
“They have adapted well,” Van Kanegan said. “We usually have rough beginnings, but toward the end, we peak.”
