A tie-break victory in the last match of the day secured a 9-0 sweep and the third straight win for the City College men’s tennis team Tuesday at Pershing Park.
The Vaqueros continued their run of victories going into the end of the season with their third straight win and their second 9-0 win over LA Pierce. The win secured City College’s second place ranking behind Ventura.
“The only team we were unable to beat this season was Ventura,” said team captain, Emerson Sekban. “So this is a great win and a huge confidence boost for going into that game.”
“It’s just another step towards our main goal of competing at the top of this conference,” said assistant coach Michael Mickelson.
City College’s stand out player today was Sekban, a freshman from the United Kingdom.
“It was very important for us to get the win today and I feel like I stepped up and played well,” Sekban said.
He said that the best thing about his game today was his serve, which was recorded at 115 mph when he was only 15.
“Coach Moharram has been fantastic, he’s very big on physical fitness and I believe that shows,” Sekban said. “We are one of, if not the fittest team in the conference because he inspires hard-work and pushes all of us.”
Endurance was certainly needed for Willem Decker and Parker Turek as they fought back from a 4-0 loss to a tiebreak and an eventual victory in the men’s doubles.
“When I’m playing out there I always think about the team,” Decker said. “That’s where my hard-work and grit comes from, it’s purely team orientated.”
Sasha Hedberg, one of the team’s standout players, is looking forward to giving a similar performance against a Ventura player who claimed the singles trophy last year after an unbeaten season.
“We showed LA Peirce that we’re back in this conference and we’re here to win,” Mickelson said. “Today was a good warm-up but now we have to look ahead to Thursday.”
The Vaqueros will have a season deciding match at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 10 at Ventura College.
