Coaches: Christopher Ghareebo (head coach), Jae Byun (assistant coach)

Top Returners: Kyle Kang (11), Leo Lee (12), Dominador Tenazas (11), Florenzo Tenazas (10), Julian Yoon (10) 

Top Newcomers: Austin Kim (9), Ethan Moon (9)

Last Season: The boys tennis team (11-4 overall / 5-3 league) placed second in their league championship for the third time in the past three years. They advanced to the CIF-SS quarterfinals, where they lost 13-5 to Cate High School (2-0). 

Outlook: Following last season, the boys tennis team enters the new season with more motivation to qualify for CIF-SS. 

“We haven’t won a league in three years [because] we’ve gotten second place, second place, second place, so I’m looking forward to getting one back for the boys tennis this year,” Ghareebo said. 

The head coach said that he plans to reach this goal by adapting to the opponent’s strategies.

“We [plan on] adjusting during the match, like if I see something that the [opponent] team is doing, that I want my guys to notice, we counter it, which is a game strategy,” he said.

Doubles player Yoon said he is confident entering the first league games after the team improved with the addition of top newcomers and the weaker competition. 

“We got a lot of good freshmen this year, but also the other high schools that we are going up against are not very good,” Yoon said. 

Similarly, doubles freshman Aiden Song said he hopes to break the streak of not winning leagues for three consecutive years and enter the CIF-SS.

“One thing that has motivated the team thus far is the hope of making CIF-SS this year,” Song said. “We’ve had a drought in boys varsity for three years now, and we want to be the year that breaks that streak of not qualifying.” 

Team captain Lee said that the loss of senior players from last season made structuring the new team difficult at first.

“Our team lost a lot of seniors last year, so we initially found it difficult to structure our team, but the new varsity players are doing a good job,” Lee said.  

While examining the changes made this season, Ghareebo said that creating a young team helped them prepare for the present and future of the team.

“We had a very old group last year, so now we are trying to build [a team] for now, slash the future,” he said. 

With this new structure, Ghareebo said he addresses some of the team’s weaknesses, such as a lack of experience and mental strength.

“A lot of our players are going to have to learn how to win big matches; the majority of our starting players are freshmen and sophomores, [so] I’m hoping that they will still find a way to win big matches and overcome any mental obstacles,” Ghareebo said. “They need to understand that they are great players and can win a league title and make a run in CIF.”

However, the head coach said he also recognizes the team’s strengths.

“The strength of this year’s team is that we are very deep with talent,” he said. “We’re going to be a hard team to deal with because of the depth we have.” 

Along with hopes of improving as a team, doubles player Florenzo Tenazas said this season is an opportunity to improve his physical and mental strength.

“I could improve on having better placement on my volleys, like hitting to the other volleyer and more cross-court during matches, and the mental [goal] is just not letting my opponents get in my head,” Florenzo Tenazas said.  

Ghareebo said training consisted of tournament-style practices to build strength and stamina. 

“[We practiced] a lot of getting into shape, training to get your legs ready for three long matches, and just intense practice rallies and sets while playing tournament style against each other,” he said. 

As they continue to practice and prepare for the upcoming league games, singles player junior David Lim said he had high expectations for the matchups with Esperanza High School (1-7) and Yorba Linda High School (0-7), as they are the strongest opponents in the league.

“I am most excited for our matches with Esperanza and Yorba Linda,” Lim said. “I personally practiced with the Esperanza coach, and Yorba Linda offers the toughest competition in the league.”

The Lancers head to their first league game away against Esperanza High School at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 12.