Posted: March 12, 2015 | Written by Victor Gallegos

Tough losses in professional sports sometimes have a lasting negative effect amongst the players and team. For RCC men’s tennis team, losing to Irvine Valley College, last year’s state finalist, was actually a positive learning experience.

“The team is doing great!” RCC assistant coach Carlos Vazquez said. “ No team likes to lose. Yet we know our level and their level.”No example was more evident than watching Edward Rimen, No. 6 singles, battle his opponent relentlessly, even as the result of the match and total matches seemed a foregone conclusion during the third set.

RCC had lost five of their six matches, and Rimen was down 5-0 with match point looming.

Instead of caving in and succumbing to the feeling of hopelessness, Rimen valiantly fought back into the set by winning two straight games before conceding the match, 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, to Max Rumeau of IVC.

It is instances like these that prove it is not necessarily the result that builds character, but the response to it. Vazquez expressed similar sentiment when discussing the loss.

“All teams sooner or later lose. Yet it’s not how you fall, but how we as a team get up and face our next challenge,” Vazquez said.

It’s as if coach Vazquez knew his team would bounce back, as the Tigers finished 2-1 on their recent road trip, defeating Fullerton, 9-0, and Orange Coast College, 5-4, while narrowly losing to Saddleback, 6-3.

Now, the Tigers must build off the momentum as they return home for one match against El Camino before resuming play on the road at Cypress, followed by their rematch against Irvine Valley set for March 19 at 2 p.m.

It will be another chance to test themselves against one of the state’s premier teams, a match that will exhibit just how far the team has progressed from the loss in February.

“We must keep training insane or otherwise we will remain the same,” Vazquez said.

Judging by their grit, determination and willingness to learn, the sky is the limit for the Tigers.