Nathan A. Alonzo
March 30, 2011
Filed under Sports
This season, the Fresno City College women’s tennis team is off to an outstanding 11-1 start, the Rams are currently in second place in the Central Valley Conference (CVC.)
The team has gone through a number of challenges to get where they are. They deal with a large number of new players this season, as well as having to be at the mercy of the weather in order to practice and play.
Several of the Ram’s matches were canceled because of weather conditions, one of those being last week’s match-up against the Reedley College Tigers.
The Rams will re-schedule their match against Reedley. The match is not only one amongst rivals; it also marks the decisive win for a share of the CVC title.
The one loss on the Rams’ schedule this year came against the Tigers in an intense 5-4 loss.
Even with the loss, the Rams are looking forward to the match-up and have been looking forward to the match. Assistant coach Ronnie Monreal is confident in her team’s ability and their game plan going into the match against the Tigers, “They just have to stay calm and focused and just hit the ball,” he said
What the team says has been their key to success this season is the amount of work, practice, and conditioning they put in during the off-season. Another aspect that has helped the Rams is their communication on the court during doubles matches. “We are working as a team, we conditioned a lot during the pre-season, so now we are dominating the conference,” said sophomore Tonia Keyes-Bramlett.
Despite their admirable record, the Rams are still looking for ways to improve as they head into the final part of CVC play and after the post-season. “We have to work on footwork, they are pretty good with fitness,” says Monreal.
Overall, another one of the things that has helped the Rams this season is the overall level of play. Along with playing a tough pre-season and having good competition in the CVC, the Rams have a good set of talented players this season.
In tennis, the depth chart is composed of a ladder of seven players. So far this season, the Rams have proven that all seven of the players on that ladder can contribute. With the doubles team competing at a high level and losing only one match, the Rams have utilized that momentum as strength.
Even with doubles as a strength the team says that doubles is an area that they want to see ongoing improvement in. “We need more communication and focus in our doubles matches,” said sophomore Andrea Pereyra.
In the singles category, other players that would be usually viewed as the weaker players on the ladder have stepped up and played exceptionally well this season. “Our five and six players on the ladder are pretty strong, considering they are five and six, all the way through, we are pretty strong.”
The CVC championship will be decided here at FCC on March 29 against Reedley.
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