Sophomore Alana Johnson was victorious in all four of her sets which contributed to the first women’s tennis conference win over Long Beach City College last Thursday evening making Cerritos 1-1 in the conference and 2-6 overall.

With four of the six singles matches ending in defeat, Cerritos needed to win all three of the doubles matches to overtake Long Beach, which they did, even though it meant having to play until 7:30 p.m.

Johnson competed in one singles match and one doubles match and came out on top in a total of four sets.

She had the most trouble with her singles match that went 6-2 in the first set, and 6-4 in the second set in favor of Johnson.

“The first set I started out strong,” Johnson said, “in the second set I lost focus, but I got my mind straight and pulled it off.”

Johnson had trouble getting in position with her footwork and remaining calm to execute her swings.

“She had good lob shots that would hold me back,” Johnson said, “I would have to work with my feet more just to get the ball in the right place.”

“I could’ve improved my fore-hand on the short balls she would give me, put more spin on the ball and take my time more.” she added.

After Johnson’s singles victory, she went on to win her doubles but had to make some minor changes in her game plan.

“In the beginning I started off struggling, but you know it’s different players and a different game, so I just had to adjust.”

Freshman Tabitha Zavala lost her lone singles match, 6-4, 6-3, having trouble keeping her footwork tight and dealing with her opponent’s short offense.

“I tried my best,” Zavala said, “she had short shots I had trouble with. I need to work on my footwork.”

Head coach Rosanna Chatman said, “Tabitha is a strong player but she is more of a doubles player, for her to play singles today was kind of a challenge for her.”

Although Chatman was happy with the win, she expected a better performance in the singles sets.

“We need a little bit of improvement,” Chatman said, “we shouldn’t be fighting for this, we should have won singles.”

The biggest problem facing the team seems to be confidence while having a losing season; this win may pick up morale for the women in tennis.

“I think a lot of the girls are lacking a lot of confidence,” said Chatman, “I’m proud of everybody, I think everybody played their roll well.”

With the team working on their individual performances, women’s tennis intends to keep improving their singles performance and overall record.

Johnson said, “so far I think I’m getting myself together so hopefully the rest of the season will be good for us.”

Cerritos will now host Mt. San Antonio College this Thursday at 2 p.m. They look to improve since an away game at Mt. San Antonio from earlier in the season that ended in a 2-7 loss for Cerritos.