The Cerritos College men’s tennis team are in the finals for the Western State Conference Tournament.
On day two of the tournament the quarterfinals and semifinals matches were played.
Freshmen Kent Hunter and Victor Castro are up against each other in the final singles match.
Hunter made his way into the finals by winning the quarterfinals match 6-0, 6-1 and then winning his semifinals match 6-0, 6-3.
Castro fought through both of his matches as well winning against his own teammates in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-0 and then in the semifinals 7-5, 6-1.
While they will be clashing in the singles, they are preparing for their doubles matchup against sophomore Kwangeun Lee and freshmen Dario Rico.
Hunter and Castro won their doubles matchup against El Camino College 8-0.
Lee and Rico made it to the finals in doubles after upsetting the second seeded Falcons’ sophomore Marcos Paulo Silvestre and freshmen Alex Prokopchuk in a 9-7 victory.
Hunter said he felt like he had a really good performance and felt like he could’ve had a more consistent serve and better movement on the court.
Hunter said his three strong points were, “Hitting the ball with top spin, taking it in on the wise and getting into the net.”
Going into face Castro, in the singles Hunter says, “We’ve played several times before, just another match. I know it’ll be a tough match, but I think I can do it.”
Castro said, “We have been having long matches throughout the weekend and I was a little bit tired, but I did well.”
Castro is hoping to make adjustments on managing his game with how the weather is a certain day,
“It’s tough, but it’s nice because at the same time you know that there’s a good player in your team, that you’re gonna face,” said Castro referring to his matchup against Hunter in the final singles match.
Castro says it’s going to be a tough match, where he will need to have full concentration on the court.
Coming off a long lasting injury Rico, fell short in the singles in the quarterfinals.
“I came back with a stronger mentality and it was good I felt so good,” said Rico referring to his singles loss.
Although Rico lost in the singles match he won the doubles match with his partner Lee.
“It was a very good match. We were playing better when they were serving, we had a lot of break points, but we couldn’t finish.
“We were losing 7-5 and I got a little bit mad, but we came back and won,” Rico said.
Rico was frustrated during his match because he was thinking they were gonna lose, but finally they came out with the win.
Going into the doubles match against Hunter and Castro, “Doubles is different, I think they are still, but we will see.”
Head coach Quinn Caldaron said, “I thought we played well, with meaning behind the games it brought out better tennis.”
Caldaron’s goal is for the team to play their best tennis. “We still have work to do, I want these guys to continue to push. If we push and we play our best tennis, I don’t think anyone else can beat us, if we play our best,” Caldaron said.
With this being the season opener for Caldaron, “It’s awesome, I was lucky enough to take over a team of great players, with great character and work ethic.
“The players themselves have been extremely welcoming to me and open to new coaching ideas. I hope that they’re getting something out of my coaching.”
The men’s finals in doubles and singles will be held at home on April 11.
