The Pierce College tennis team lost their match against San Diego Mesa College 2-7 on Friday March 8.
The Brahmas have had a rough start to the season, already losing three matches, making this game their fourth loss.
Even though these are friendly matches, they count toward the team’s total ranking, said head coach Rajeev Datt.
Datt attributes the team’s constant losses to their lack of preparation.
“They are not professionals, but they have to learn about professionalism and preparation, and this means not showing an hour ahead of the match and saying, ‘I have time to warm up,’ because warming up your body is one thing, but getting your mind and your spirit warmed up takes more than an hour,” Datt said.
Top player Richard Catabona, who faced San Diego Mesa’s James Tenbroeck, turned out to be the only victor in the singles matches for Pierce, but had a hard fought victory, according to Datt.
“He literally came straight from his chemistry lab. He played without a warm up, and he still made it work, “said Datt. “I am really proud of him. He hung in there mentally.”
Catabona won the first set 6-3, lost the second set 4-6, and won the third set 6-4.
“The guy I played fought really hard. Even though his skill level was a little lower, he managed to dig down deep and I really managed to make him play 110 percent,” Catabona said. “My problem in that match was that I was playing too aggressive. Sometimes you need to match the player’s level and just play his game.”
The team is trying really hard to achieve more said Catabona.
“We are at zero percent for winning right now. I wish the team could’ve pulled off some wins, but you know they’ll keep trying. As along as they keep fighting, I’ll be fine with that,” said Catabona.
Gleb Bilyalov, player for San Diego Mesa College, was very proud with his teams performance and their win, considering that Pierce beat them last year.
“We know they are a good team … but we were just trying to play our game the best way we could,” said Bilyalov. “I don’t know [why] they are a little rusty.”
The Pierce tennis team is set to play Santa Barbara City College at home on Tuesday 2 p.m.
Singles:
Richard Catabona (Pierce) vs James Tenbroeck (San Diego Mesa) 6-3, 6-4.
Aaron Goodwein vs Giordano Valdez (SDM), 6-1, 6-1.
Eitan Fattal vs Connor Eck (SDM), 6-1, 6-3.
Nathan Crosby vs Christopher Bastardi (SDM), 6-3, 6-0.
Alex Kokonis vs Alex Abbuhl (SDM), 6-0, 6-0.
Kevin Nam vs Sean Lee (SDM), 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles:
R. Catabona/E. Fattal (Pierce-Winner) vs G. Valdez/ A. Abbuhl (SDM), 8-5.
A. Goodwein/A. Kokonis (Pierce) vs J. Tenbroeck /S. Lee (SDM), 8-4.
N. Crosby/ K. Nam (Pierce) vs C. Eck/ C. Bastardi (SDM Winner), 8-1.