The Bakersfield College Women's Tennis Team is piping hot, and the good news just keeps on rolling in. After finishing their school record-setting 18 win regular season earlier this week, the women were crowned Western State Conference Co-Champions. Today, they have even more to cheer about. 

"You might look at that 'co' and think this title is tainted or lucky," Coach Nick Loudermilk said, "But you would be misled. We play in arguably the toughest conference in California, and we compiled a 10-2 record against the Goliath teams of the WSC; you can't 'fake' or 'luck' that." 

Indeed, it's the first conference title in 22 years for the formerly moribund program, and it started with a challenge. 

"Before this year, I came to the women with a vision. I sat them down and told them that I truly believed we had a chance to make it to the state playoffs. Was it a lofty goal? Depends on who you ask. For me the vision was there.  And it meant that extra work would have to be put in.  Starting on my end,  and finishing on theirs," Loudermilk said.

Judging by the results thusfar, he fulfilled the 'start' part, but the finish is yet to be realized.

"We all knew what we were getting into,  the WSC is stacked with high quality teams everywhere.  I told the ladies 'Hey if we can place second in our league, I think we can make it," Loudermilk said.

But he cringes, given the team's conference championship, at the notion that he didn't set his goals high enough.

"No I wasn't selling ourselves short; second place would be amazing given the teams that surround us! But slowly and surely, the vision started to become a reality.  After the first round of conference, we found ourselves at the top of the WSC leaderboard with a perfect 6-0 record.  To get that record we had to beat Glendale, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges.  You put all of those schools in the same sentence and you have yourself a powerhouse conference," Loudermilk says stoically.

"Yet we were the only ones to come away 6-0 after round one, and that shows we belong where we are," The coach said.

The statistics bear him out. The BC women only lost four matches, and the score in each loss was 5-4; that's four points from perfection. BC Tennis was just four match points away from running the table on the entire season! But the perfect start gave them a new goal; not just to finish second, but to claim the conference crown, and that had the women fired up.

"Sure, the goal of qualifying for state was there in the back of our minds, but sweeping round one showed us a little more of who we are, and who we could be. That's exciting," Loudermilk said.

And they almost did it without contest.

"And lets face it.  We were six matches away from making that happen.  The second round brought a few hardships.  We lost 5-4 to Glendale on the road.  We were 4 points away from winning that match.  It was a heartbreaker.  Could the women have packed it in after that and let it get to them?  Absolutely.  But they embraced it.  Life isn't perfect.  And neither was our record anymore.  But we still controlled our destiny.  We hit another roadblock against Santa Monica.  We lost 5-4 to them at home and it was a tough loss.  But the demeanor on the team had not changed.  They were happy with the way they battled.  They couldn't get the match back.  And they accepted it and continued to move forward.  They showed me a lot of heart that day.  They surprised me," Loudermilk said.

But this week, BC's shot at sole possession of the conference crown was out of their hands; and Tuesday, BC became big Glendale fans for the day.

"Tuesday Glendale had to beat Santa Monica for us to have a share as WSC Champions and they came through.  To play the way we did this season and to be rewarded with this conference title is the most amazing feeling.  These girls never let up.  Never gave up hope.  And now they are the 2017 WSC Co-Champions.  Thats a phrase I can keep saying for the rest of my life, and they can as well. Huge," Loudermilk said.

But Wednesday brought an even sweeter treat.  

"Since we were co-champions of the WSC, we received an automatic bid into the Southern California Regional Playoffs.  Conference Champions one day.  State Playoff berth the next.  This is the proof that the phrase 'hard work pays off' is more than a cliche.  This shows the value of staying positive regardless of the situation.  This is about belief in your team.  Nothing can stop this team.  And now the last goal is evident;  Bring a State Title to Bakersfield College." 

Coach, we are done rooting for Glendale or anyone one else weilding a racket this season...Good luck, and we can't wait to put your Conference Title Banner  up in the Tennis Courts, and we'll save room for another just in case!