MEN'S TENNIS HOSTS SADDLEBACK IN SEASON OPENER TODAY

BC Tennis Courts

The Bakersfield College Men's Tennis Team opens their 2017 campaign Friday when Saddleback College comes to town.

"We've got a deep team of 16," Head Coach Nick Jacobs said, "and only three of those guys have college tennis experience; #1 Chanrien Ul, who played my first year of coaching but redshirted last season, #5 Fabian Cardenas, and Austin Lux. Outside of that, we have a lot of young guys who were top juniors, so I feel like we are in good shape." 

Saddleback College comes from the historically tough Orange Empire Conference, but Coach Jacobs says he's taking a different approach this season with his athletes. 

"We'll have our hands full, no doubt. But we have a lot of guys who haven't been in the college environment before, so I've told them that it doesn't matter who we are playing, or what time of year we play them; I want them to treat each match like it's the first match of the season for them," Jacobs said, "Because if you are playing a team that you think you should beat, you might be overconfident. If you get it into your head that it's a really tough team that you don't have a real chance against, then you have the wrong thought processes. I just want them to play their best matches, and see how things pan out." 

Coach Jacobs said the lineup for today's 2pm home match is only set through the top five spots as of this morning, and here they are: 

1. Chanrien Ul 

2. Alex Slykerman

3. Zach Gomez 

4. Mario Cabaloza 

5. Fabian Cardenas

The rest of the spots will be a match-time decision for Coach Jacobs. Admission is free at the BC Tennis Courts, located adjacent to the Acquatics Center and East of the Dean and Adah Gay Sports Complex.