Friends, supporters, teammates and at one point opponents, the Men and Women’s Tennis teams played in the SCC Conference Tournament.

The tournament took place at Cerritos College from April 10-12.

“It has happened many years so were used to it. When they go out there I tell them to treat each other with respect, and regardless of who wins or loses shake hands afterwards. We’re teammates immediately following the match but during the match your opponents it’s as simple as that,” head coach, Steve Van Kanegan said.

Van Kanegan used a different coaching style in these situations.

“We don’t coach them, I even instructed my assistants not to get involved with the match when they’re out there. We’re rooting for both players we hope for the best but they’re on their own,” Van Kanegan said.

“It was fun to watch but at the same time I wanted to help them and give advice, especially when one is beating the other,” assistant coach, Yasuto Miyawaki said.

Freshmen Shayla Fulton and Rose Sgolusutyatorn played against each other for the women singles championship.

“I played against my teammate and I was really nervous because she’s my friend and she’s really nice so it was hard,” Sgolusutytorn said.

Fulton and Sgolusutyatorn also competed together and won the women’s doubles championship.

“We had a doubles team that completely dominated their opponents so they were champions, Van Kanegan said.

Ya and doubles partner Sophomore Britton Henrikson made to the semi-finals. They were down, 1-6, in the match and battled back to, 5-6, but lost to Sheldon Hsieh and Nick Simonelli of Cerritos College, 8-6.

“It was great. I play in tournaments on the weekends with USTA and it’s just like you’re out there on your own but you have your team backing you up,” Henriksen said.

Sophomore Whitney Reed made it to the men singles final but lost to Nathan Eshmade of Cerritos College in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.

Sgolusutyatorn, Fulton, Reed and Ya all qualified for the state championships in both singles and doubles. Freshmen Chris Fisher, Henrickson qualified in doubles and De la Torre and Chihiro qualified for doubles.

“We did as good as can be expected. It was a great effort,” Van Kanegan said.

The state championship will take place at Ventura College for the women and the Pierpont Racquet Club for the men from April 24-27.

“We want those who will come back next year to build some good experience because it will be a great opportunity for them to see all of the top players from the state,” Van Kanegan said.