It was a good week for Bakersfield College tennis. The men defeated LA Pierce 6-3 on March 10 while the women won both of their contests by defeating Santa Monica 6-3 on March 10 and Glendale 8-1 on March 12. The men had a bye on March 12.

The men lost to L.A. Pierce 5-4 a few weeks ago at home. “That match just got away from us,” said head coach Regina Csibi-Krueger. “We should have won that one.” But the Renegades weren’t going to allow for a season sweep.

They were split at three games a piece after singles play, but BC dominated all 3 doubles matches and won over L.A. Pierce by a final of 6-3. Neal Wetterholm and?Kevin Lott won their match 8-5. Filiberto Nieves and Bryce Naranjo followed with an 8-4 victory.??Matt Booth and?Javier Rios finished L.A. off by winning their match 8-4.

The women found themselves in the same exact situation against Santa Monica. Fortunately, they had the same results as the men did.

Even with Shabrena and Sarena Dickerson losing their singles matches, BC staved off defeat by owning Santa Monica is all three doubles matches. The two sisters beat the very same players that defeated them in both singles matches.

Wetterholm, the men’s No.1, lost his singles match as well but picked it up and with the help of his teammate, Lott, came out on top.

Tennis is often looked at as nothing more than an individual sport with individual achievements. But both Renegade squads showed how important teamwork is, even in a sport like tennis.

“We really spend a lot of time on doubles in practice,” said BC women’s head coach Gene Lundquist. “No matter how you do in singles, doubles is a team sport. If you are able to master the tactics and strategy of team play in doubles you can defeat superior singles players.”

Both the men and the women displayed great teamwork March 10.

While the men had a bye on March 12, the women squared off against Glendale.

Shabrena Dickerson was tied up in a 2 hour and 20 minute match with Glendale’s Meldia Hacopian. Dickerson pulled out an impressive win, beating her opponent 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3).

The women went on to dominate all three doubles matches again, to get the win over Glendale, defeating them handily 8-1.

This marks the start of the second half of dual match play. Both teams will now face former opponents for a second time.

The men have already started off on a good note by getting revenge on L.A. Pierce.

The men’s next match will be March 24 at Santa Barbara.

The women’s next match will be against Santa Barbara March 24 at BC.