Coaches: Christopher Ghareebo (head coach), Lori Peterson (assistant coach)
Top Returners: Nathan Lee (12), Richard Lu (12), Dominador Tenazas (10)
Top Newcomers: Florenzo Tenazas (9), Julian Yoon (9)
Last Season: The boys tennis team (11-4 overall, 7-2 in league play) fell short of winning the Freeway League title, placing second behind rival Troy High School (14-3-1 overall, 10-0 in league play). The team failed to advance beyond the first round of the CIF playoffs, getting eliminated by Walnut High School (12-3-2).
Then-senior Nevin McCann won MVP for playing singles, winning the team several matches in pre-league, while then-junior Lu and then-senior Calvin Yoo were awarded for doubles.
Outlook: After all but four members of last year’s varsity team graduated, this year’s players consist of 14 seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
Although there are slightly more underclassmen than in previous years, Ghareebo is optimistic about the team.
“We’ve got some really good underclassmen players this year,” the head coach said. “And even though the team is getting younger, that just means they’ll gain experience on our team and play for us in the coming years.”
The Lancers also don’t have to worry about Troy anymore, as the Warriors have moved on to a different division, while Sunny Hills remains in the Freeway League, which is part of the Century Conference. The boys tennis team will face Irvine private school Crean Lutheran (18-5-1 last season overall) and public schools Cypress (9-12 last season overall), Brea Olinda (8-6-1 last season overall) and Esperanza (5-10-1 last season overall).
“We’re a little unfamiliar with the schools we’re up against,” Ghareebo said. “But I know Crean Lutheran was very good last year, so they might be our toughest opponent.”
Nevertheless, the head coach said he’s counting on the team’s work ethic to help the players reach their goals.
“Our strength is our attitude and our approach to work every,” Ghareebo said. “And when you have young talent on top of that – which we do – we can make something special happen, like winning league titles.”
Some of the players feel this year’s squad can make history repeat itself from three years ago when it took home the league title.
“It does feel weird that a lot of my senior friends from last year graduated, but I think the new players might help us get to our next league win,” captain Lu said. “ I’m optimistic that this year will be their next.”
Ghareebo said the focus has been on finishing each match stronger since many of the players struggled to close out their sets in the previous season.
“We’ve been focusing our efforts to fix our weak endgame,” he said. “It’s mainly just practice, practice and practice.”
Senior Jeremy Rheeman agreed.
“It’s a combination of caution and nervousness that leads us to mess up the final points,” Rheeman said. “Some of my teammates and I are trying to start volleying more aggressively.”
The Lancers will compete in their first league match on Thursday, March 27, at 3 p.m. at home against Crean Lutheran (5-2-2 overall).
