AREA COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

Bob Holycross, who coached the Calabasas High boys’ tennis team the past four seasons, is the first-year women’s coach at Ventura College.

The Ventura program was without a coach for several months before Holycross took over in November.

Once the team had a coach, it needed players. At least six were necessary to play the six singles matches and three doubles matches.

“It was tough but we did it,” Holycross said. “We worked like heck and raided P.E. classes and rec leagues. But we’ve got a couple of pretty good players.

“It’ll take two or three years to really build the program back up, but I’m going to try to have a good team next year.”

The Pirates are 1-3, including an 0-2 mark in the Western State Conference.

It is a far cry from the success the Pirates enjoyed last season, when they finished second in the conference and had three singles players and two doubles teams who advanced to state competition.

Holycross is developing an inexperienced group of primarily freshman.

Serita Povzonoff, a St. Bonaventure High graduate who is playing No. 1 singles, is the team’s best player. Ventura also has freshman No. 2 player Sonja French, out of Ventura High, and No. 3 Melanie Wilson, a sophomore from Buena.