Opening day of both the women’s and men’s Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Tennis Tournament was set to begin Thursday, April 7, however, mother nature had different plans as the rain postponed play.
City Times caught up with both coaches to find out what will happen next due to the rain out.
Brandon Lupian, coach of the men’s tennis team, must wait till Friday to see if the weather lets up so the tournament can commence.
“Everything has been pushed back to Friday. Weather permitting we may just play Friday only and not Saturday and Sunday,” Lupian said.
Many aspects of the tournament are still up in the air as the weather may not let up and a complete reschedule may occur.
Jami Jones, head coach for the women’s tennis team, was unsure of what will happen next.
With many great players for the men’s and women’s teams, this tournament has a great deal of importance for the rest of their individual seasons.
Some players will be continuing onto the Ojai Regionals on April 24, while others will have their season officially end.
Jones and Lupian both hope there will be several City College Knights in the tournament that qualify for Ojai.
“In singles, Palia Griffin is the sixth seed, Desiree Wilson is the seventh seed and Brianna Leigh Pink is the eleventh seed. In doubles, Desiree and Palia are the fourth seeds,” said Jones.
She hopes to have a few of her Lady Knights take on the challenge of the PCAC Tournament and qualify for the Ojai Regionals.
Lupian is confident in his team.
“I have six singles players and three doubles teams. I hope to qualify everyone of my players for the SoCal regional playoffs later on this month at the Ojai Tournament,” Lupian told City Times.
The top-ranked Knight in the tournament is Daniel Villa, who comes in ranked third. Logan Rinder and Dale Gutierrez are ranked tenth and thirteenth, respectively.
With many ranked players in the tournament, City College should be a force to be reckoned with in the PCAC Tournament as well as the Ojai Regional.
Updates on the start of play and tournament results to come.
