The only thing that matters to Mandy Oliveros is working hard. The CAMS’ junior knows that if she works hard the rest will take care of itself.
It wasn’t until the day before her Moore League title match – her third in three years – that she was told what it meant if she won.
“It’s honestly very underwhelming,” Oliveros said. “Because to me, it’s just another match, another game, and then all of a sudden, just yesterday, somebody mentioned, ‘Hey, don’t you realize if you win, you’re gonna win three times in a row?’ (I) never thought of it like that. I’m just very grateful that all this hard work with keeping my head down and pushing, I’m onto this, so I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Oliveros continued to write her name in the history books Wednesday afternoon as she defeated her freshman teammate Miki Sakai, 6-2, 6-1 at Billie Jean Moffit King Tennis Center in the singles final.
After entering the league tournament as the No. 1 and No. 2 seed, Oliveros and Sakai cruised after having first-round byes to set up their all-CAMS final.
“When I came to (CAMS) I was really excited because I knew I would be able to play with them,” Sakai said about playing with her teammates.
While Oliveros has been winning the singles titles, she checked off one more box on her to-do list as she teamed up with Sakai in the doubles finals and they defeated teammates Sara Rodriguez and Saya Nagae 6-2, 6-1 as CAMS swept both titles for the third straight year.
Rodriguez and Nagae were the Moore League’s back-to-back doubles champion and have been a big part of the program winning the CIF-SS Division 5 title in 2023 and the Division 4 title in 2024.
The trio of Oliveros, Rodriguez and Nagae are part of the reason Sakai was so excited to join the team and being a role model is something Oliveros is happy to do for the team.
“I’m glad that we could pave the way and give an example of what it’s going to be like,” Oliveros said. “And work ethic and just mentality. Because of course, they’re still young, still growing and they’re all excited. I’m glad we could be models for them.”
Although Rodriguez and Nagae were the runner-up in the doubles finals, the duo finished third and fourth, respectively to complete the CAMS singles sweep. Rodriguez defeated Nagae 6-2, 6-1.
In the doubles third-place match it was a battle between Long Beach Poly as Naomi Lakkis and Chelsea Ramezani defeated Justina Phy and Alia Tran 6-1, 6-2.
The Coyotes don’t know what division they will land in when they start CIF action but they are looking forward to going for their third title in a row.
“This means the world to CAMS,” CAMS assistant coach Attila Lassu said. “We started making mark (in the league) when three stars joined our team three years ago and they continued to do that their second year and now here their third year. They continue to maintain that level with the addition of another star who came in as a ninth grader.”
