2008 Season Outlook…
In 2007, the Lady Pilots
Tennis Team finished with an overall record of 10-3, an 8-2 Marine League Record, advanced all the way to the quarterfinals
of the invitational playoffs, sent 8 players to the individual tournament & 2 players to the quarterfinals of the individual
doubles championship & having those same 2 players make 2nd Team All-City.
After finishing the 2007 season with perhaps the best results in the past 15-20 years and losing 5 players to
graduation (including 2 all-city players & the MVPs for the last 3 seasons), 2008 seems to be a “rebuilding”
year. However, unlike the 1st season under the current coach (2004: 3 Wins – 10 losses),
this is a much better starting point. With 6 returners from the starting lineup & with 3 players moving
up from the JV ranks, the Pilots only need to fill in some gaps & start building some early confidence.
While defending league champ, Carson, looks to continue its dominance and extend their 90-game Marine League win-streak,
the Lady Pilots will try desperately to put an end to that & once again attempt to put themselves in position to make
the post-season for a 3rd consecutive year, after a 10-15 year absence.
After the Pilots swept all of the other Marine League opponents in 2007, Narbonne & San Pedro seem to be the
frontrunners in trying to replace Banning as the league’s second place team. After all 4 contests
from last year were relatively close, this year’s rematches look to be very close once again.
This team’s strength this year seems to be the flexibility and endless possibilities of different lineups,
as #s 1-6 on the team (Cristina Alvarado, Norma Santamaria, Veronica Trujillo, Diana Alvarado, Kathy Ngo & Jasmin Jimenez)
are pretty evenly matched. The key will be how smooth of a transition each of those 6 players can make
between playing in the different singles & doubles positions, as well as the different partnerships.
The next 2 spots in the starting lineup seem to be all locked up by Sandra Medina & Victoria Martinez, and
so the key with those two positions will be how quickly those two players adjust to life as starters and all of the pressures
& nervousness that accompanies that.
The last two positions on
the starting squad seems to have 6 contenders, including two mixed partnerships of a returner and a rookie (Patty Ledesma
& Anais Noriega, Jazmine Martinez & Dalilia Cornejo), as well as 2 new freshmen (Melissa Garibay & Rebeca Rodriguez).
Whoever ends up in those spots will be key in trying to hold down the #3 doubles position for most of the season.
Among the rest of the team, there seems to be a very strong core of underclassmen
with 6 more freshmen (Luisa Martin, Jamie Vasquez, Lizbeth Medina, Angel Noriega, Brenda Angeles & Jessica Ramos) as well
as 3 sophomores (Helly Duran, Cristine Nafarette & Areli Chun). Joining them in using this year as a year of improvement
& preparing for the competition of making next year’s starting lineup are 2 juniors (Wendy Arreola, Jessica Cortez).
With a total of 25 players on the roster, the 2008 Lady Pilots are poised to
make another run at the playoffs, as well as preparing for the future of the team. 2008 is shaping up to
be an exciting year full of many surprises & high expectations. Good Luck Pilots! J
