In any sport, when a team comes off a lost where they score nothing, the mood can become somber especially if you are the team on the losing end.

For the men’s tennis team, their second win was in sight as they played the Pirates of Orange Coast (4-0) but lost 9-0 at home.

This now puts the men’s tennis team at 1-5 (non-conference record). “I’m not bothered by the record,” coach Steven Van Kanegan said. “Some years we have a winning record, and some years we have a losing record.”

Each doubles game was first to eight points and each singles game was the best two out of three set matches.

The Warriors were down early as they lost 8-0 in the second and 8-2 in the third court matches of doubles. The best doubles match was on court one between EC’s Josh Legardy and Mark Dalton against Orange Coast’s John Lieu and Darren Dinh but the momentum swung in favor of the Orange Coast Pirates with the score of 8-4.

“Although the team may be inexperienced in match play, we have much more learning to do,” said assistant coach Yasu. ” We just have to stay focus.”

As the singles round started, the matches did not go the way the Warriors had hoped. The one close single’s match featured EC’s Seth Abram against Orange Coast’s Chris Chiu.

Chiu when up one game with a score of 6-2. Abram quickly rebounded and came back to win the second game 7-6.

The win lead to game three which was the tiebreaker. Orange Coast’s own Chiu claimed the tie with the win and the score of 7-5.

“(Abram) was our key player today because of his attention and energy that he bring to the game,” added Yasu.

When asked about his performance as of late, Mark Dalton said, “All we need to do is focus and work on our footwork as a team.” He felt in his performance against Irvine Valley that he was “excited.”

Dalton also felt that the game against Bakersfield was “winnable.”

“I’m surprised with the camaraderie the team has so far,” said Coach Kanegan.

The next game for the the EC Tennis Warriors is against Fullerton College in Fullerton at 2 p.m.

For the Men Tennis Schedule please visit: http://www.elcamino.edu/athletics/tennismens/score.asp

For more info on the team please visit: http://www.elcamino.edu/athletics/tennismens/