Both Bakersfield College tennis teams recorded wins on Feb. 10, overcoming a couple obstacles along the way. The men defeated Reedley 8-1 while the women beat Riverside 7-2.
Even though BC’s standouts were unsuccessful in beating their respective opponents, the rest of the team was there to back them up. Tommy Carter of Reedley defeated BC’s Neal Wetterholm 6-4, 6-4, while Riverside’s Caroline Houston beat BC’s Shabrena Dickerson 6-1, 6-1.
Those were the only singles matches that the Renegades lost that day.
“Our motto is ‘never ever give up,'” said women’s head coach Gene Lundquist.
The men lost a hard-fought match against L.A. Pierce 5-4 on February 12. One player who seemed to overcome the biggest challenge was the BC men’s No. 4 player Ben Nieto.
Nieto, sophomore, was tangled up in a 3 ´ hour match with L.A.’s Matias Castro. Nieto started experiencing a good amount of pain in his legs in the middle of the second set.
“It was pretty intense.” Nieto said. “I hit the deck, and I couldn’t move.” Both of his legs were cramping, and it made it difficult for him to play in the style in which he is accustomed to.
“My main weapon is that I’m able to run everything down. I couldn’t plant that good.” Nieto described his pain by saying that his legs felt like “linguini.”
After taking salt and mustard packets to help with the cramping, Nieto went on to beat Castro 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
When asked about the outcome Nieto responded, “It was the best/worst match I’ve ever played.”
BC men’s coach Regina Csibi-Krueger was very impressed by the resiliency and effort of her team. She sees a bright future for her players.
“Once they gain more experience and confidence, by the end of the second part of the season, they will understand what it takes to play at this level.”
Another player who had an impressive win was the Renegade’s No. 2 player Kevin Lott. Lott, freshman, won his match by defeating Eric Garner of Reedley 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
“It takes me a while to close out some matches” Lott said.
He is learning with every match that he plays that college tennis is “way more advanced than high school tennis,” said Lott.
The women suffered their first loss of the season to Reedley. The BC women fell short, losing 5-4.
Although they lost, BC women’s coach Gene Lundquist was impressed with the way his women played.
“I was so proud of every one of our women on the team. It could’ve gone either way.
“Reedley is absolutely one of the toughest colleges in the state,” said Lundquist.
Lundquist was impressed by the match between Reedley and BC.
“It was without a doubt the most exciting match that I’ve been involved in since I’ve been a coach.”
Sophomore Katie O’Leary is the No. 2 player for the women.
She won her match against Reedley by defeating Nadia Khamis 6-0, 6-4.
O’Leary is thrilled with the team chemistry this year. “We get along really well,” said O’Leary.
When asked if she felt any pressure to win her match against Reedley seeing how her No. 1, Shabrena Dickerson lost, she replied, “I could tell Shabrena was down. I was just trying to play my game the best that I could.”
She reiterated how her coach is always telling the team to never give up.
“If one of us has a bad day, we know that our teammates will probably win.”
The men’s Modesto Tournament was rained out Feb. 5-6 is rescheduled for Feb. 28 and March 1.
The women are looking forward to a very tough opponent at Sierra College as Sierra won the state championship two years ago.
The Renegades will face Sierra College Feb. 21 at BC.