For a pair of Mission Bay girls sports teams, the new season means new opportunities to improve.
On the tennis courts, head coach Trong Tong (sixth year) and his Bucs are looking to rebound from a trying season a year ago.
According to Tong, key players this season look to be freshman McKenna Mountain (No. 1 singles), senior Sabina Hagey (No. 2 singles), and the No. 1 doubles duo of seniors Lumila Raynal and Lindsey Price.
Tong said among the goals this season would be to make team CIF and win at least a round, along with getting Mountain seeded in individual CIF.
“In a newly reshuffled league this year, our improved team has already topped last year’s performance with a 12-6 win over Lincoln,” Tong remarked. “We also played High Tech in a closely contested match but lost 10-8. We got a highly talented freshman in McKenna, who will give our team a great boost and will hopefully make some noise in individual CIF.” Volleyball
On the girls volleyball front, the Bucs under head coach Steve Upp won their first home non-league match versus Montgomery.
Mission Bay also saw action this past weekend in the Sweetwater Tournament (finished fifth out of 43 teams), winning both of its pool matches against Mountain Empire and Calexico, respectively. Those wins put Mission Bay in the gold bracket, where it defeated El Camino and lost to Otay Lakes, respectively.
Mission Bay is led this season by senior tri-captains Alex Briski, Samantha Zambrano and Maddie Tandy. Other players to watch are sophomore Bethany Kepner and junior Kim Hollaway.
Mission Bay opens league play this Thursday (Sept. 8) at Coronado.