Warriors Take Case to the Courts : Tennis: With powerful lineup from top to bottom, Coach Carol Dennis says El Camino is capable of winning the state title.

Carol Dennis has experienced plenty of success as El Camino College women’s tennis coach, but this season has proven to be better than any other.

“It’s one of those years where everything went right,” Dennis said. “Everyone is eligible, everyone gets along and they all help each other out.”

Dennis, 35, has not had a losing season in 10 years at El Camino. During that span the Warriors have won two league titles and several of her players have qualified for the state tournament.

What makes this season different, according to Dennis, is that she has a hunch this team is special.

“I think we have potential to go all the way and win (state),” she said.

It’s not far-fetched considering that the Warriors are undefeated (10-0) and have shut out five opponents.

The Warriors’ latest victim was South Coast Conference opponent Cerritos College. El Camino shutout the Falcons in Torrance on Thursday to remain as the only undefeated team in the seven-member league.

Last year El Camino placed third in the SCC, but in 1992 no league opponent appears to be in the Warriors’ class. El Camino is ranked fourth in the state by the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn.

The Toros proved their strength in a shutout of seventh-ranked Long Beach City College, predicted to be the Warriors’ toughest league opponent.

Dennis considers that victory a special one because last season Long Beach shut out the Warriors. El Camino also has impressive nonconference wins over second-ranked College of the Desert and eighth-ranked Palomar College.

The closest El Camino has come to losing was a 5-4 victory over Palomar on Feb. 20. The Warriors have cruised through virtually all of their matches since then.

“This sounds kind of conceited, but our best practice right now is with each other,” Dennis said. “We usually have one or two shutouts a season, but not this many. And we’ve never gone this long without losing.

“Before this, my best team was in 1986. They were particularly good because they were such fighters. But they didn’t have the skill this team has. This team also has fight, but we haven’t been tested by fire yet.”

Dennis was ranked among the top 20 junior tennis players in Southern California while growing up in Whittier. She played a year at Scripps College in Claremont before transferring to Cal State Long Beach, where she completed her collegiate tennis career and received a degree in physical education.

A teaching pro at the Billy Jean King Center in Long Beach, Dennis enjoys the instructing part of her job. Her roster of talented athletes hasn’t required much of that this season, however.

“Our strength is definitely the depth we have in our latter (lineup),” Dennis said. “The teams I’ve had in the past had a definite drop. This team doesn’t have a gap after No. 3. Our No. 6 player could beat lots of No. 1s in our league.”

The Warriors’ two best players are ranked among the state’s top 23 in the ITCA poll. Debbie Yoo, a freshman from West Torrance High, is ranked 17th and Kelly Imel, a sophomore from South Torrance High, is ranked 23rd.

Imel was El Camino’s top player last year and an All-SCC first-team selection in singles and doubles. The addition of Yoo bumped her down to No. 2 in both categories.

Yoo is considered to be the Warriors’ prize recruit, although she had been inactive for more than two years before joining the team. Before the hiatus, she was a solid junior player who spent years training with Robert Lansdorp, a highly regarded junior coach who worked with Tracy Austin throughout her professional career.

“She’s aggressive, she hits hard and she’s consistent,” Dennis said. “She also has a big kick serve, which is rare in girls.”

At West Torrance, Yoo played No. 1 singles and was the Ocean League champion as a freshman and sophomore. She quit tennis after her sophomore year because she says she “really got burned out.”

Yoo also experienced problems in the classroom, which led her to graduate from a continuation high school rather than West. She says watching her older sister Patty play tennis for CS Long Beach inspired her to compete again.

“Now I regret quitting,” said the 18-year-old Yoo, who teams with Justine Sauls in doubles. “It’s been kind of frustrating coming back because I’m not playing as well as when I quit. I’m about 70% of how I used to be.”

El Camino’s No. 3 player, South Torrance grad Christine Biernat, was also an All-SCC selection in singles and doubles last season. Known as a solid ground stroker, Biernat teams up with Imel for No. 2 doubles.

The Warriors’ No. 4 player is 47-year-old Sue Leopold, who came to the United States from England at 19. Dennis recruited Leopold from one of her tennis classes in Long Beach.

“She’s like a wall,” Dennis said. “She doesn’t hit with a lot of pace, she just pops everything back and drives everyone crazy. I’ve seen opponents walk off the court and say they don’t want to play tennis anymore.”

Leopold says it doesn’t bother her that opponents often complain about the slow pace she keeps throughout matches. It’s the secret behind her 10-0 record this season.

“Those girls hit the ball so hard,” said Leopold, who has played recreational tennis since she was 11. “They complain that I don’t put enough pace on the ball, but I beat them. I love it. It’s wonderful.”

Leopold teams up with freshman Lara Ward (South Torrance) for No. 3 doubles. Ward plays No. 6 singles and Sauls, a graduate of South Torrance, plays No. 5 singles. As a freshman last season, Sauls was the top singles player at Division III Mills College in Oakland.

“These girls are very strong,” Leopold said. “They’re so good and it goes really deep, not just No. 1 and No. 2. Our second-string players can beat a lot of the teams we’ve beat.”

Although tennis is an individual sport, Yoo says this team is very close.

“We’re a strong team, but we really get along and that makes a difference,” she said. “And it doesn’t hurt that our top six are much better than other schools.”