With a new coach and a new attitude, the SBCC men's and women's tennis programs are improving by leaps and bounds on the court and in the community.
"We want to start locally and focus our recruiting on the Santa Barbara area," said men's and women's coach Randy Moharram. "We want to draw the top players to Santa Barbara City College because it's such a great institution. We want to build our program from Santa Barbara and outward to the rest of the state.
"The whole community has rallied around our tennis program and that's made it easier to recruit locally."
The men's program was restored this year after a two-year hiatus and the Vaqueros took second in the Western State Conference with a 6-2 record. There are four local players on the squad – Stevie Acuna and Ryan Chung of Santa Barbara High and Andrew Tufenkian and Jeffrey McDaniel of Dos Pueblos.
The men's team got a boost when Spencer Ekola, one of the top high school players in town, verbally committed to join the Vaqueros and will enroll in the fall for the 2016-17 season. Ekola, whose mother and grandmother previously coached women's tennis at SBCC, was a three-time undefeated Frontier League champion for Bishop Diego. He's now playing No. 2 for Santa Barbara High and is ranked among the Top 75 prep players in California.
"It's a great local school and I wanted to stay near my friends and family," said Ekola, who reached the men's open final in the Santa Barbara Open last summer. "And SBCC is the No. 1 school in the nation.
"I'm excited about getting to play for the Vaqueros."
Moharram is happy that Ekola chose SBCC.
"Spencer will be a great addition," he stated. "He's a strong, local player who is passionate about the game and is willing to put in the work to get better. Aside from his play on the court, he's a character person off the court and thus, a good fit for our program."
Greg Tebbe, the coach of the highly successful boys tennis team at Santa Barbara High, says Ekola is a very experienced player.
"His strength is his consistency," noted Tebbe. "He doesn't make errors and he's very tough mentally.
"I think Randy is doing a great job with the SBCC tennis program. I've been to some of their community events and he's really passionate and has a lot of good energy."
The SBCC women's tennis team also had an outstanding year, going 11-3 in the regular season and finishing second in the WSC at 8-2. The 11 wins are the second-most in the last 10 years.
Moharram had high praise
for his assistant coaches, Christina Klein with the women and Michael Mickelson with the men. "Their knowledge and dedication to teaching really enhance what we can offer student-athletes as a coaching staff," he said.
Moharram says that being on the tennis team is more than just serves, forehands and backhands.
"Academics are a priority at SBCC and we want our kids to move on to four-year schools," said Moharram. "We also want our student-athletes to be engaged with the community. We worked with the Special Olympics in the fall and we just went to the Boys & Girls Club to meet the kids and put on a clinic.
"We want to add to the richness of our community. Our kids really benefit from going out and giving of themselves. It's a win-win situation."
Athletic director Ryan Byrne says he noticed big changes in the tennis program.
"I have seen a dramatic shift in the culture of the teams this year," he stated. "The student-athletes are really engaged as students and active members of the campus community. The student-athletes are taking part in community service activities and the dynamic between the men's and women's teams is really positive."
Sasha Hedberg has played No. 1 singles for the Vaquero men this year, compiling a 4-1 record. The sophomore from Oxnard High played for Ventura College a few years ago.
"This season has been much more gratifying than any team I've played on," said Hedberg, who's majoring in Drug & Alcohol Counseling. "We're very team-oriented, coach is great and my teammates are all supportive. It's a great environment. I really enjoy working going out and working with the community.
"I hope our men's team continues to improve. This is my last year but I have pride now in Vaquero tennis and I'd come watch them play in the future."
Maddie Seeds has played No. 1 on the women's tennis squad the last two years.
"I've noticed a lot of differences with both teams this year," said Seeds, a sophomore from Orcutt Academy. "We click well together and the coaching staff is great. We get a lot more done during practice.
"It's fun doing our community events. We all bond together and it's fun meeting new people and helping them any way we can."
