Warriors women’s tennis defeat Rio Hondo in single and double matches
El Camino College Warriors Women’s Tennis player Kayla Brown hits a forehand groundstroke alongside her doubles partner Stefanie Liebich against Mt. San Antonio College Mounties’ pair Karina Ramirez and Alejandra Vasquez at El Camino College on Tuesday, March 15. The duo of Brown and Liebich would win the set 8-3 and contribute to a 9-0 overall score in favor of the Warriors. (Naoki Gima | The Union)
El Camino’s women’s tennis team defeated Rio Hondo in its singles and doubles games, sweeping in all of their singles with a score of 6-0 and leading 8-0 and 8-1 in doubles.
The 80-degree weather was not enough to slow the Warriors down as they came prepared to win.
“I have a really strong team, and I believe in every single one of my teammates,” said Kao Vaefa, a 19-year-old criminal justice major who predicts El Camino’s win as she watches her team warm-up on the sidelines due to minor injuries.
Her prediction was right. With this win for the Warriors, the team has a lot to look forward to soon.
“We have a home game this Friday, and we keep on playing until our tournament coming up, then regionals, then states,” Kayla Brown, a 21-year-old history major, said.
Brown said the reason their season has been undefeated so far is due to the strength of the team and its familial environment.
“Our girls are so good and nice, it feels like a family, like a sisterhood,” Brown said.
Brown said that as a tennis player and a coach who teaches tennis to children, the Rio Hondo women are nice and stay consistent, but there’s always room for improvement.
Danay Holman, an 18-year-old nursing major said her Rio Hondo opponent “played good, she had a pretty consistent serve and kept me guessing.”
Holman is optimistic about her performance this season. She said she has improved from a shaky start of the season, making her happy with her performance.
Brown and Holman strongly contributed to their 8-0 and 8-1 doubles wins and all their 6-0 singles wins, along with assistant coach Darin Dunn and teammates Stefanie Liebich, Madeline Evans and Julia Jones, who had observers rubbernecking to catch up with the ball as it zipped over the net and pierced in-bounds like a bullet.
When it comes to the next few months, the team doesn’t lack any confidence.
“If we keep up our performance, I think we should be good,” Holman said.
Brown agrees.
“I feel like we will go to the finals,” Brown said. “I feel like we’ll go pretty far.”
The Women’s Tennis team will face off Cyprus College once again on March 24 at Cypress and will also battle Glendale Community College on March 25 at El Camino.
Editor’s Note: Fixed grammatical structure on March 24, 2022, at 7:27 p.m.
