The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach tennis for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by the Cain Family<\/p>\n
A star-studded class of players will soon hit the court for the 2025 Moore League boys\u2019 tennis season. Here\u2019s an overview of each team to keep an eye on this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Millikan\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fresh off their second CIF-SS Division 4 title in the past five years, the Rams enter this season with a different kind of energy and a team filled with confidence, grit and momentum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While going back-to-back is an obvious goal, Millikan\u2019s primary focus is on reclaiming the Moore League title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur top goal is to win that Moore League title and bring it back to Millikan High School,\u201d head coach Spencer Pozgay said. \u201cOur league is extremely competitive and it always has been so we have to go into every match and play our best if we want to compete against the other schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rams return three sophomores from last year\u2019s CIF championship squad, each of whom were integral reasons for that title. Andrew Abdelmelek swept all of his matches in CIF finals, Issac Kim won the championship set in doubles, and Ziggy Rouret only lost three sets combined throughout the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult to be thrown in as a freshman and have an expectation to contribute and win for the team,\u201d Pozgay said. \u201cBeing able to experience CIF and another year of working with the team, I\u2019m excited to see it translated into their play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pozgay believes these experiences in high-stakes situations will help those three players step into leadership roles on the team, which is needed given the major turnover the Rams\u2019 roster faces after 11 players graduated last spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the influx of varsity newcomers, freshmen Tyler Mungcal and Austin Stoskopf stand out as having already established roles on the team, and they continue to improve and strive for excellence. Pozgay also elevated several players from JV to take on varsity roles this season, including sophomores Eli Cooke and Sam Fies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEli and Sam have shown dedication to this program over the past two years and both want to make their mark and impact on this team,\u201d Pozgay said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wilson\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the Bruins, defending their three-time Moore League title remains the ultimate goal. But development will be just as important, as the team features nearly an entirely new starting lineup.<\/p>\n
Senior Jake Pavia headlines the pack, hoping to finish his high school career strong before making the jump to college tennis, which head coach Nick Medina said he has committed to playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kaya Yakar will lead the doubles side, with Medina touting his improvement throughout last season. Team captain Maximus Uong figures to play a big role and bring energy and leadership to the squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another senior, Oliver Moller, is a relatively new tennis player whose improvement over the couple years has impressed Medina. He\u2019ll join varsity and be a key piece in doubles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Long Beach Poly<\/p>\n
The Jackrabbits recognize the competition they\u2019re up against, given the CIF title winners and Moore League champions in their league. But head coach Ricardo Montecinos said the team is very much in contention for the title and is ready to challenge in league play and secure a deep run in CIF.<\/p>\n
The core remains mostly similar for Poly, with senior Gabe Simms and sophomore Luke Teter returning in singles. Seniors Alex Fearing and Stuart Turnour will be the captains in doubles, with juniors Andrew Guerrero and Destin Lund along with sophomore Nick Cheung rounding out the doubles lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are solid at all three singles and doubles spots,\u201d Montecinos said. \u201cNine quality starters, no holes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poly also welcomes freshmen Kamden Harden, whom Montecinos commends for his outstanding skill, maturity and poise. He\u2019s already swept his first match at La Quinta Westminster and has continued to impress in practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a legit Moore League champion possibility,\u201d Montecinos said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freshmen Dan Kawasaki and Preston Moore are two skilled players that could also factor into the varsity lineup.<\/p>\n
Lakewood<\/p>\n
The Laners\u2019 primary goal this season is building experience. With only two returning seniors, head coach Thomas McNamee expects some growing pains, but also sustained development throughout the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his 28th season as Lakewood\u2019s coach, McNamee\u2019s experience has taught him that winning can come in numerous ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mantra will be \u2013 learn and improve each game,\u201d McNamee said.<\/p>\n
In singles, four-year varsity starter Patrick Sourn spearheads the team, with junior Ethan Keo right behind him in the two-spot. Senior Robert Lak joins the singles lineup for the first time in his Lancer career.<\/p>\n
The Lancers will fill the rest of their lineup with newcomers, including four freshmen and one sophomore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve worked hard during the offseason to be ready, now it\u2019s time for the real thing,\u201d McNamee said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach tennis for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by the Cain Family A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-215680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}