The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

Tennis teams try to gain momentum at end

Kristle Davis came back from a calf injury and played well with her double’s partner Kacy Turner against Santa Monica College, but the women would lose overall 8-1 March 31.

The men are coming off a 9-0 loss to College of the Desert April 2.

Tsuyoshi Nagaoka, EC’s No. 1 single and Keith Boggero, No. 2 single, won their matches while teaming together and winning their doubles match, but the men would lose to L.A. Pierce 6-3 Tuesday.

Up next for the Warriors is the South Coast Conference Tournament, taking place at Mt. San Antonio College. The men play April 16-18 while the women play April 14-17.

The men have a record of 3-10 while the women are slightly better at 4-9.

“Everyone on the team will play in the tournament and it will depend on the player’s schedule to determine if they play or not. One or two might not play because of a schedule conflict,” coach Steve Van Kanegan said.

The men and women aren’t going to let injuries hurt them from competing in the tournament.

“Everyone will be ready and healthy for the tournament and if they are not in it, it’s because of a class schedule or homework,” Van Kanegan said.

The season performance of each player will determine where they are seeded in the tournament.

“The rest are thrown into a hat. We will have a couple seeded,” Van Kanegan said. “The others will just have to wait and see who they play.”

In men’s doubles action against College of the Desert, Francisco Stuardo and Cesar Uauy defeated Warrior teammates Tsuyoshi Nagaoka and Keith Boggero 8-3. Bruno Araujo and Mauricio Berleze defeated Warriors Tim Kang and Sergio Guerra 8-0. Max Becker and Alex Sandri defeated Warriors Jonathan Chin and Taylor Neal 8-0.

In men’s singles, Stuardo defeated Nagaoka 6-0, 6-4. Araujo defeated Boggero 6-1, 6-4. Uauy defeated Neal 6-1, 6-0. Becker defeated Kang 6-0 in straight sets. Sandri defeated Chin 6-0 in straight sets and Berleze defeated Guerra 6-2, 6-1.

The women’s individual and doubles scores for matches against Santa Monica were unavailable at press time.

With Nagaoka, Boggero, Davis and Turner leaving at the end of the season, Van Kanegan still is unaware who will be leading the team’s next year.

“The returning players usually become leaders of the team,” Van Kanegan said. “At this point, I don’t know who those returners are.”

With the regular season over, the Warriors can reflect back and see how they fared this year as a team.

“I think it was a good season. It was my first year on the team,” Guerra said.

Over the past two years, the men and women have been practicing at North Torrance High School.

Last season, the Warriors were able to host matches, but this season the situation was not the same, as every game was played on the road, forcing the teams to travel to each different college.

With construction on the new parking structure set to be completed this June, the Warrior tennis teams may have a home in 2010.

More to Discover