After ending its season on a bad note last season, the Cerritos College men’s tennis team is looking to improve during the 2013 season.

The team finished with an 11-9 record and were ranked No. 14 in the California Community College Athletic Association.

The Falcons dropped its last conference game to El Camino College as they lost a 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 match.

Head coach Alvin Kim said the goal to accomplish this season is to improve from last year’s results.

Kim feels his team will be one of the most prepared teams during the season.

“I think we’ll be among the most prepared teams out there. We’ve been preparing for next week by going through full match simulations the past two weeks,” he said.

He also added, “(We have to) do better than last year and win the conference.”

Kim noted that his team will have to use some game-time to be able to fully adjust to changes made in the offseason.

“Fine tuning doubles teams takes some time and it’ll take actual match stress to test it out.”

Freshmen Giani Jeong has set his personal goals for this season.

“(My goal is) to do my best and to start the games,” he continued.

Jeong also added that Mt. San Antonio College will be the toughest opponent in the South Coast Conference.

Recovering from injury last season, Matthew Espiritu, said the team wants “To build on its mentality” heading into the season.

Kim admits that the lack of sophomores on the team may be the toughest obstacle to overcome early on in the season.

“We have a lot of freshmen this year, and without sophomore leadership it’ll take a while for teams to mesh.”

Cerritos College will begin its season at Irvine Valley College on Jan. 31 at 2 p.m.

The first SCC conference game will be played at Mt. San Antonio College on Friday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.