One of the standout players of the women’s tennis team this season has been sophomore Brittany Aguilar. This season, Aguilar has dominated in the doubles matches with her partner Riley Tucker. The pair were put together mid-season and have excelled. Over the break she earned first-team all-conference for doubles at the Western State Conference Tournament.

“I’m so happy that I made first-team all-conference,” Aguilar said. “This year’s been so different from last year. Last year I felt kind of lost. Like I felt thrown in there, and I wasn’t really prepared. This year I feel like I’ve learned so much more about how the game works, and from my coach and teammates.”

Unlike many of her fellow teammates, Aguilar hasn’t been playing tennis for nearly as long. She started playing tennis her sophomore year of high school at Bakersfield Christian. “My first year I just kind of went out there and did it,” said Aguilar. Since that first season, she has played every year competitively since, including training on the offseason, working out with fellow tennis players around the city.

She notes that her first season at Bakersfield College was “a bit rough,” said Aguilar. “I didn’t feel like I was doing as well as I could my first year. I was a little overwhelmed, and felt like I couldn’t fully keep up.” Aguilar, like the rest of her teammates, is not just a tennis player, but a student. Aguilar is currently majoring in Child Development, and wants to get her degree in Early Childhood Education. Majoring in Child Development is something important to her because her mother is a teacher, and Aguilar has hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

“I love kids!” Aguilar said laughing.” I really do. I think it’s so important to have good teachers for children because it helps them so much for the future. My mother was also a teacher. She used to teach at the Bakersfield Adult School, and in Arvin as well. She kind of inspired me.”

Like her teammate Tucker, Brittany Aguilar also has her own favorite pump-up songs from the team’s playlist. “Honestly, we listen to kind of hood music before games. Like we play “Shots” by LMFAO. We play all those kind of pump-up songs that just help us get ready or the game.” Unlike most sports, tennis isn’t one that tends to be as well-known like others, such as baseball, football or basketball.

Aguilar wants people to know that it’s not as hard as it looks. “If I could tell people one thing about tennis, it’s that it’s not as hard as it looks. Just come out and play. You can always find people to play with on your intensity level. There will always be people willing to help you out. Tennis is a lot of fun, and honestly anyone can play.”