Senior-dominated Surfriders Ready To Rally At Kalani
By Jack Danilewicz
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Even if his boys tennis team wasn’t playing OIA East conference leader Kalani this Saturday, Kailua High coach Brett Matsukawa knows his team would still be at its best. Neatly summarized, the players are self-motivated.
“They were second-to-last as a team last season, and they definitely want to improve on that,” Matsukawa said.“They’ve worked very hard. Some coaches work with their kids during the summer; it’s OK to do that, but we don’t. The kids put in countless hours on their own at Kailua High School and the other courts in the area. They just got better on their own.”
The early results have been solid to date, with wins over Castle, Kaiser, Farrington and Kalaheo to go with a pair of losses to Roosevelt and Moanalua. If anything, the March 10 win over Kaiser remains the Surfriders’ signature win of the year. It marked the first time since 2004 that Kailua had defeated Kaiser in boys tennis. (That was also the year that Matsukawa helped lead Kailua to the OIA title along with fellow coach Reid Higashi.)
Success on the tennis court in recent years is all the more impressive in that few come to the program with tennis backgrounds. Freshman Celso Campo is a prime example from the current team.
Although he started playing tennis only four months ago, he’s been rotating between second singles and first doubles, where he is sometimes paired with team leader and ace Joey Nakaso.
“He definitely has a lot of potential,” Matsukawa said of Campo. “He’s worked really hard at practice, and he stays longer than anyone else. He has a great attitude and natural ability.”
While Campo’s development is one of the most exciting developments, Kailua’s current team is senior-dominated with nine upper-classmen accounting for all but four of the other roster spots.
Nakaso, a junior, leads the way at first doubles. “He’s grown up playing tennis, so he understands the game at a different level compared to the others. Serving and volleying are his strengths.”
Seniors Will Stormont, Gavin Kido and Rusty Largo also have played large roles so far. Kido, who took a 5-1 record into the weekend in second doubles, splits his time between the school’s baseball and tennis teams. “The baseball coaches (Corey Ishigo and staff) have been very generous in allowing him to compete,” Matsukawa said. “It’s been good to have him. He’s really, really aggressive, and this has helped him.
“Will has tenacity. He doesn’t give up. He’s unorthodox in the way he goes to the net a lot, and his attitude has been great. Rusty has all of the strokes - he’s well-rounded. The difference between this year and last year has been his ability to focus on winning the match. Finding a way to win is more important than hitting a shot that looks good.”
Saturday’s match at 9 a.m. at Kalani could go a long way in determining the OIA East’s regular-season champion. The Falcons were undefeated in all six matches heading into last weekend. With spring break starting last Friday, the Surfriders should be freer of distractions with no exams to prepare for.
“We need a lot more focus,” Matsukawa said. “Kalani is really, really good. We’ll have to play our best to even keep it close.”
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