April 27, 2023
Steps to Success, Warriors in Final One Year Later
By Francisco Claudio
Westcliff men's tennis team has taken the next step to success after defeating Hope International in the semifinal, 4-0.
One year ago the Warriors had also advanced to the semifinals but weren't able to get a win against San Diego Christian and lost, 4-0.
One year later the Warriors are the favorite because of how much talent they have on their team, but also because of how motivated and focused they are on the goal.
It's a deep team in which seven or eight players have to compete for a starting lineup that only allows six.
It's a good problem to have especially for the coaches who spent 25 minutes debating who would get the last roster spot at the beginning of the tournament.
It was a one-sided victory for Westcliff versus Hope, but Head Coach Ross Duncan wants his team to bring more energy tomorrow and stay locked in until the last second.
"We may lose, that's fine, but we always need to be the ones with the most energy and want it more than our opponent," said Duncan. "Because that's something that we can control.
"We talk about it but executing it is a different thing. Most of the time we're pretty good but they're are times when they just need a little bit of a wake-up call."
In doubles, Westcliff had to wait for the last match to finish to officially grab the point, and they did when No.1 Felix Veyhle/ Max Mueller won their match 6-4.
The other doubles team that won was No.3 Angel Melgar/ Loick Cherruy 6-2.
And then the Warriors took care of business quickly in singles as Zak Khalil, Melgar, and Cherruy won their matches in straight sets to get the points they needed to officially win.
Westcliff will now face Westmont College in the GSAC Tennis Tournament Championship game.
Coach Duncan shared that he wants the team to focus on themselves and not let outside noise become a distraction.
"Focusing on ourselves and focusing on what we need to do and how we want to be."
"That means we need to practice a certain way," said Duncan. "Cheer a certain way and train a certain way.
"Regardless of who we play or what the score is, we have to be ourselves and engrain that character and culture."
Tomorrow's final will start at 10 AM.