Boys’ Tennis ‘slowly improving’

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The Boys’ Varsity Tennis team has started off the season with a ?-? overall record, according to Head Coach Bill Conley. The team has a 5-3 record in the El Camino League, Conley added.
This year’s team is more balanced than last year’s. Although the team is inexperienced, team members have been helping each other to get better, Conley said.
“We’re practicing really well,” Conley said. “Every day we see our team getting better on the court.”

One of the team’s weaknesses is a lack of experience, Conley said. In particular, the team lacks any USTA (United States Tennis Association) players, according to Conley.

“We don’t have a lot of USTA players, which is something that hurts us. Our guys don’t play a lot of tournaments outside the tennis season,” Conley said. “That doesn’t give us as much experience as some of our competition.”

Despite losing experienced seniors, this year’s team is still strong, Conley said. The leadership of returning players has helped a lot this year.

“Because of the leadership that I’ve had this year from players, I’d say that we’re actually more balanced from our highest position to our lowest position,” Conley said. “[The team has] been helping one another get better. The doubles teams are playing really solidly this year.”

Senior Brian Nguyen has been on the Varsity team for three years and this is his first year as the team captain. Being the captain means that he has to focus on strengthening a new team as well as himself, Nguyen said.

“I’ve never had to coach anyone before. I’m spending most of my time training the team instead of working on myself,” Nguyen said. “I want to get everyone better for next year because it’s the first time playing on Varsity for a lot of people.”
The team had to adjust to having many new players in the beginning of the year, Nguyen said. However, the team has become closer as the season has progressed, according to Nguyen.

“In the beginning of the season, I didn’t know any of the new players,” Nguyen said. “Our teamwork is slowly improving day by day though. We’re becoming more of a family instead of strangers.”

Junior Mateus Cirino is a first-year Varsity player. The team is dedicated, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, Cirino said.