The Cerritos women’s tennis team’s lone loss on the season came to a now 3-9 Whittier College team.
“We could have [beat] Whittier if we weren’t missing our No. 2 player (discipline), ” head coach Alvin Kim said.
In the game against Whittier College sophomore standout Anastasia Khomyachenko did not play.
Khomyachenko is 14-1 in singles play and 11-4 in doubles.
She is not the only standout for Kim and company.
Sophomore Taylor Heath has a combined record of 29-9 in both singles and doubles matches.
“This season we got a new assistant coach who is really hard on us and makes sure we use every minute of practice to improve our game which has helped me a lot and also the team has become really close which relieves pressure during games and allows me to play at my full potential, ” Heath said.
Kim is proud of his Heath’s success this season.
“She’s been maturing, making good decisions, [but] she can be even better I think,” Kim admitted.
“She’s had good growth this year and I’ve spent four seasons in high school with her as well, winning two CIF titles,” he added.
Heath is coming off a season where she was named to the All-South Coast Conference first team.
Despite that one loss in mid February the team hasn’t allowed the loss to discourage its’ goals for the season.
“We stay focused by knowing how important this title will be for us and for our coaches who have never won a conference title on the women’s side. So we stay hungry for a win because we know our coaches work really hard for us not to lose,” Heath said.
The team has been dominant over the course of the season as it has reeled off 10 shutouts all while commanding a 159-30 points lead over all opponents.
“We’re deeper than most and our No. 4-6 statistics show it. Jovana Milosevic has only one loss in our division and No. 6 Danielle Pastor is undefeated as well,” Kim said.
The South Coast Conference Tournament is just around the corner with one game left in the way.
Kim has never captured a conference title with the Cerritos College women’s tennis team but with his record standing at 20-1 he feels good about his chances.
“The team is getting tired and we drive them pretty hard but the finish line is coming up and I think we’ll be okay going into playoffs,” Kim said.
